Scott Anthony Rush (born 3 October 1985) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

former

labourer A laborer (or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor types in the construction industry workforce. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their labor. Industries e ...

, who was convicted in Indonesia for

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

as a member of the

Bali Nine The Bali Nine were nine Australians convicted for attempting to smuggle of heroin out of Indonesia in April 2005. The heroin was valued at around 4 million and was bound for Australia. Ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were ...

. In 2005, on his first trip to

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

, Rush was arrested at

Ngurah Rai International Airport I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional I Gusti Ngurah Rai) , is the main airport in Bali, located 13 km south of Denpasar. Ngurah Rai is the second busiest airport in Indonesia after Soekarno–Hatta Int ...

Denpasar Denpasar (; Balinese script, Balinese: ᬤᬾᬦ᭄ᬧᬲᬃ) is the capital of Bali and the main gateway to the island. The city is also a hub for other cities in the Lesser Sunda Islands. With the rapid growth of the tourism industry in Bali ...

with of

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

concealed on his body. After a criminal trial, on 13 February 2006, Rush was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. After appealing against the severity of the sentence, in a surprise outcome handed down by the Bali High Court on 6 September 2006, Rush's sentence was changed to the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. On 10 May 2011, Rush's death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment on appeal to the

Indonesian Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Mahkamah Agung Republik Indonesia) is the independent judicial arm of the state. It maintains a system of courts and sits above the other courts and is the final court of appeal. It can also ...

Early life

Rush grew up in Chelmer, a western riverside suburb of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Following his arrest, conviction and sentencing, it was revealed that Rush had been expelled from Brisbane's

St Laurence's College , motto_translation = To do and to teach , type = Independent primary and secondary school , religion = Catholicism , denomination = Congregation of Christian Brothers , streetaddress ...

during his Year 10 studies for an incident involving drugs. It was reported that Rush then moved to another Brisbane school,

Marist College Rosalie , motto_translation = Whatever you do, do wholeheartedly and well , established = 1929 , closed = 2008 , type = Independent, Roman Catholic, single-sex, secondary , grades = 8–12 , colors = Cerise and blue , city = Paddington, Brisb ...

, whence he graduated in 2002. Media reports claim that Rush was using

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

at the age of 15 and has used ecstasy and

prescription drug A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescription medicine) is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a medical prescription to be dispensed. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription. The rea ...

s. Further information released following his sentencing, state that in December 2004 Rush pleaded guilty at Inala

Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

to 16 offences, including

drug possession The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances. While some drugs are illegal to possess, many governments regulate the ...

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

and

drink-driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...

. A warrant for his arrest in Australia was outstanding at the time of his trip to Bali, relating to A$4,796.95 stolen from an Australian bank.

Alleged trafficking conspiracy

According to media reports, Rush and his Brisbane friend,

Michael Czugaj Michael William Czugaj (born c. 1986) an Australian former glazier from Oxley, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Czugaj was arrested at Ngurah Rai Internat ...

, met

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen (; 30 October 1983 – 9 May 2018) was a Vietnamese– Australian citizen. He was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Nguyen was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in ...

in a

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...

hotel. Nguyen offered them both a free holiday to Bali, with one media report also stating that Rush was provided a mobile phone prior to his departure from Sydney. Rush, aged 19, and Czugaj, aged 18, arrived in Bali on 8 April 2005 and checked into Hotel Aneka, the same hotel used by Indonesian police for their surveillance. According to claims made in his defence by Rush's lawyer, Nguyen introduced both Rush and Czugaj to alleged co-ringleaders of the smuggling operation,

Andrew Chan Andrew Chan (; 12 January 1984 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian man who was convicted and executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Chan was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar. ...

and

Myuran Sukumaran Myuran Sukumaran (17 April 1981 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian who was convicted in Indonesia of drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Sukumaran was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta with eight others. Poli ...

at the Hard Rock Hotel in Bali. Allegedly, Chan and Sukumaran threatened both Rush and Czugaj, ordering them to carry concealed goods, or that their families would be killed.

Arrest in Indonesia

Rush was arrested by Indonesian police on 17 April 2005 at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali. Heroin weighing was discovered strapped to his legs concealed underneath his clothing. Czugaj,

Renae Lawrence Renae Lawrence (born 11 October 1977) is an Australian woman who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In April 2005, on her third trip to Bali, Lawrence was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport ...

and Martin Stephens were arrested at the same time as Rush. On 20 April 2005, graphic footage of the arrests and subsequent police questioning of Rush and other members of the Bali Nine was aired on Australian television. On the same day that Rush was arrested, Indonesian police also arrested

Si Yi Chen The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...

, Nguyen, Sukumaran and

Matthew Norman Matthew James Norman (born 17 September 1986) is an Australian man who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Norman was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta together with three others ...

at the Melasti Hotel in

Kuta Kuta is a tourist area, administratively an urban village (''kelurahan''), and the capital of Kuta District, Badung Regency, southern Bali, Indonesia. A former fishing village, it was one of the first towns on Bali to see substantial tourist de ...

. Alleged co-ringleader, Andrew Chan was also arrested the same day whilst seated on an

Australian Airlines Australian Airlines was a full-service airline based in Australia, servicing Australian and Asian destinations between 2002 and 2006. It was an all-economy, full-service international leisure carrier, and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Qan ...

flight waiting to depart Denpasar for

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. At the time Chan was arrested, he was carrying three mobile phones and a boarding pass. No drugs were found in his possession.

Criticism of Australian Federal Police tipoff

Lee Rush, Scott Rush's father, said that the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

(AFP) were contacted, on behalf of Rush senior, prior to Rush's departure from Australia and before the commission of the offence. Rush senior feared that his son was travelling to Bali and would commit a

drug-related crime A drug-related crime is a crime to possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse (such as cocaine, heroin, morphine and amphetamines). Drugs are also related to crime as drug trafficking and drug productio ...

. Rush senior claims then to have received assurances from the AFP that they would tell his son he was under

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

to dissuade him from going through with the crime before the group's departure from Indonesia. Scott Rush's lawyers said he was never contacted. It was revealed that the AFP alerted Indonesian police that a crime was to be committed approximately two weeks before the arrests, and had commenced an investigation about ten weeks prior to the arrests. When the Bali Nine were arrested, the news of the tipoff became public and there was criticism of the role of the AFP in protecting the interests of Australian citizens. Commenting on the matter at the time, AFP

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Mick Keelty Michael Joseph Keelty AO (born 13 July 1954) is a retired Australian Police Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police from 2001 to 2009. He was also the inaugural chairperson of the Australian Crime Commission, now known as the Australia ...

was reported as saying: Rush took action in the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

against the AFP for breach of the

bilateral treaty A bilateral treaty (also called a bipartite treaty) is a treaty strictly between two Sovereign state, state entities. It is an agreement made by negotiations between two parties, established in writing and signed by representatives of the parties. T ...

between Indonesia and Australia when information was handed by the AFP to the Indonesians. Rush's case claimed that such information should only be released by the

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. However, the Commonwealth Government maintained that the treaty only applies after a suspect is charged. The application was dismissed by the Federal Court in January 2006. In an interview aired on 13 February 2006 on ABC TV program, ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 29 ...

'', Rush's parents spoke out against the Australian Federal Police actions.

Criminal trial

Criminal trial Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

s for the accused commenced in the Denpasar District Court on 11 October 2005. Chen, Nguyen, and Norman were tried together, with Czugaj being one of the remaining six defendants tried separately. When asked why he chose to travel to Bali on a paid holiday, Rush replied "Basically that he (Nguyen) didn't have anyone to come to Bali with him." Nguyen refused to testify. Rush also claimed that when he met Chan, threats were made against his family: Czugaj confirmed Rush's account of events as being true. Czugaj testified that he and Rush had never met Lawrence or Stephens, both since convicted and of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, until they were all arrested together at Ngurah Rai Airport. Rush told the court Chan told him: Chan protested his innocence, saying before the court, "A lot of lies have been set against me, but the true reality is I'm not what people put me out to be. I've never threatened anybody in my life." During court proceedings, Rush initially refused to handle strapping material admitted as evidence, saying "No, no", before agreeing to handle the evidence after being urged to by the judge.

Sentencing and appeal

During his final plea to judges, Rush said: On 13 February 2006 Rush was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Denpasar District Court. Family friend Neil Urquhart was quoted in response to the life sentence imposed on Rush: On appeal on 6 September 2006, the Bali High Court imposed the death penalty in what many considered a surprising outcome for Rush. On 10 May 2011, a judicial review of Rush's sentence via appeal to the Indonesian Supreme Court resulted in a reduction of his sentence to life imprisonment. Since then he has continued to serve his sentence in an Indonesian prison.

Prison life

Serving his imprisonment in Indonesia, Rush receives A$125 per month under a prisoner loan scheme from the Australian Federal Government. On 7 May 2010, Rush was

circumcised Circumcision is a surgical procedure, procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin ...

in the

musholla Jamatkhana (from fa, جماعت خانه , literally "congregational place") is an amalgamation derived from the Arabic word ''jama‘a'' (gathering) and the Persian word ''khana'' (house, place). It is a term used by some Muslim communities ar ...

of Kerobokan prison by an unauthorised visitor, without the prior knowledge or consent of the prison's doctors, in Rush's alleged effort to convert to Islam. Rush has since maintained that he is a Christian and that he underwent the circumcision for "health reasons," despite the prison being equipped for such surgery. Media reports claimed Rush's actions were symptoms of

death row phenomenon The death row phenomenon is the emotional distress felt by prisoners on death row. Concerns about the ethics of inflicting this distress upon prisoners have led to some legal concerns about the constitutionality of the death penalty in the United ...

. In May 2011, there were media reports that Rush planned to marry his

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

girlfriend, Karen Hermiz. In mid 2014, he planned to marry a London banker who he met briefly before his arrest, Nikki Butler. After initially serving time in the

Kerobokan Prison Kerobokan Penitentiary Institution ( id, Lembaga Pemasyarakatan Kerobokan, also known as LP Kerobokan, Kerobokan Prison or Hotel K) is a prison located in Kerobokan, Badung Regency, on the Indonesian island of Bali. Located 4 km (2.49 mil ...

, in 2014 Rush was transferred, at his request, to a prison in Karangasem, East Bali, in order to improve himself.

References

External links

Scott Rush's personal website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rush, Scott 1985 births 21st-century Australian criminals Australian drug traffickers Living people People from Brisbane Australian people imprisoned abroad Place of birth missing (living people) Australian prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Indonesia Prisoners and detainees of Indonesia