Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen (; 30 October 1983 – 9 May 2018) was a Vietnamese–

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n citizen. He 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, Nguyen was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta together with three others. Police uncovered 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 ...

in a suitcase in the room. After a criminal trial, on 15 February 2006 Nguyen 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 ...

. His

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

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 ...

to have the sentence reduced suffered a shock when the Supreme Court imposed 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 6 September 2006. A subsequent appeal to the Indonesian Supreme Court, following a full confession by Nguyen of his role in the plan to import heroin from Bali to Australia, resulted in the original sentence of life imprisonment being reinstated. Some media reports claimed Nguyen was believed to be a financer of the smuggling plan. An Indonesian justice ministry official announced on 5 June 2018 that Nguyen had died of stomach cancer on 9 May.

Trafficking conspiracy

Media reports based on the testimony of co-conspirator,

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 ...

, claim that Nguyen (going by the alias of David), from Wellington Point in Brisbane, Queensland, had arranged an earlier attempt at trafficking from Indonesia to Australia. This attempt in December 2004 involved Lawrence,

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. ...

, Matthew Norman and others. The delivery was aborted when heroin suppliers failed to deliver "due to a financial matter or someone knowing about the plan the shipment was cancelled". Further media reports, again based on court testimonies, claim that Nguyen met Michael Czugaj and Scott Rush (both Brisbane school friends) in a pub in Fortitude Valley where Nguyen reportedly offered Rush and Czugaj an all-expenses-paid trip to Bali. Arriving in Bali on or about 8 April 2005, Rush and Czugaj met co-ringleaders

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 ...

and Andrew Chan at the Hard Rock Hotel, and also Renae Lawrence and Martin Stephens. On 14 April, Norman, Si Yi Chen, Lawrence and Stephens checked into Adhi Dharma hotel in Bali, with Nguyen arriving in the same hotel two days later. In the evening of Sunday 17 April, acting like tourists, Nguyen, Norman, and Chen checked into the Melasti Hotel. Myuran Sukumaran, who was also with them, with his bags, left them with the others as he decided to go to the Hard Rock Hotel complex. All were later convicted of drug trafficking as fellow members of the Bali Nine.

Arrest in Indonesia

Approximately 20 minutes after checking in, Nguyen was arrested at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta on 17 April 2005 with Matthew Norman, Myuran Sukumaran and Si Yi Chen. Indonesian police claim the group were in possession of of heroin and bundles of plastic wrapping, Elastoplast tape, and a set of scales, indicating involvement in a plan to transport drugs to Australia. Earlier that day at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Indonesian police also arrested the following

drug mules A mule or courier is someone who personally smuggles contraband across a border (as opposed to sending by mail, etc.) for a smuggling organization. The organizers employ mules to reduce the risk of getting caught themselves. Methods of smuggling ...

after they were found carrying various amounts of heroin concealed on their bodies. Martin Stephens was found to be carrying ; Renae Lawrence was found to be carrying ; Michael Czugaj was found to be carrying and Scott Rush was found to be carrying of heroin. Co-ringleader Andrew Chan was also arrested the same day while seated on an Australian Airlines 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 of his arrest, Chan was carrying three mobile phones and a boarding pass. No drugs were found in his possession.

Criticism of Australian Federal Police tipoff

Lee Rush, the father of Scott Rush, a fellow member of the Bali Nine, said that he contacted 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) prior to the commission of the offence, fearing 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 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. 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.

Criminal trial

Criminal trials for the accused commenced in the Denpasar District Court on 11 October 2005. Chen, Nguyen, and Norman, all arrested at the Melasti Hotel and earning the

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

, The Melasti Three, were tried together, with the remaining six defendants tried separately. In December 2005, it was reported that tensions were building between the Bali Nine drug mules and Sukumaran and Chan. Several days later, lawyers acting for some members of the Bali Nine initially sought the support of the

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

to intervene and lay charges for conspiracy to import drugs, so that the nine could be extradited and charged under Australian law. However, the judges hearing the trial matters in Bali called on Australia not to interfere in Indonesia's right to impose capital punishment;. Lawyers acting for Stephens, one of the Bali Nine, claimed that the fairness of his trial was in jeopardy following comments made in the media by Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda that Australians should be prepared for members of the Bali Nine to receive a death sentence, if found guilty. During his trial, Nguyen was accused of both recruiting members and financing the drug importation scheme. Czugaj, since convicted, stated that he travelled to Bali, with school friend Scott Rush, after Rush introduced him to Nguyen. Their reason for travel was that Nguyen offered them both a free holiday to Bali. When asked why he chose to travel to Bali on a paid holiday, Rush replied: :"Basically we got the response that 'Nguyen''didn't have anyone to come to Bali with him". Nguyen refused to testify; Czugaj confirmed Rush's account of events as being true.

Sentencing and appeal

During his final plea to judges, Nguyen said: On 15 February 2006, Nguyen was sentenced to life imprisonment. Commenting on the sentences at the time, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Keelty stated: The Australian Prime Minister John Howard was reported as commenting: Appealing against the sentence, on 6 September 2006, his sentence was upgraded to the

. On 5 March 2008, three judges in the Indonesian Supreme Court in Jakarta decided to spare the lives of Nguyen, Chen, and Norman.

Prison life

After initially serving time in Bali's

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 Nguyen and Stephens were transferred to a prison in

Malang Malang (; ) is a landlocked List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari, Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most popul ...

, East Java when it was reported that they had violated prison rules.

Death

Nguyen died from cancer on 9 May 2018 in a Jakarta hospital, aged 34, confirmed by the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Tan Duc Thanh 1983 births 2018 deaths 21st-century Australian criminals Australian drug traffickers Australian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment People from Brisbane Australian people of Vietnamese descent Australian prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Indonesia Australian people imprisoned abroad Place of birth missing Vietnamese people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of Indonesia Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Indonesia Deaths from cancer in Indonesia Deaths from stomach cancer

People from Redland City 2018 in Indonesia Filipino people of Vietnamese descent