The case of SIEV 109 involves a vessel that brought 46 smuggled migrants, most of them Afghan nationals, and four crew from Indonesia to Australia. It was intercepted near Ashmore Reef on 3 March 2010. The captain of the vessel and two of the crew were later charged and convicted for offences relating to migrant smuggling. An appeal against the sentence imposed against the captain was successful. The fourth crew member was a 17 year old male who was returned to Indonesia.
Mr Selu, the captain of SIEV 109, was to be paid less than AUD 1200 for his involvment in this venture. It was later reported that the organisers of SIEV 109 would have earned AUD 500,000 from the smuggled migrants on board SIEV 109.
澳大利亚
印度尼西亚Supreme Court of Queensland
In this trial, the three crew of SIEV 109 were found guilty for his involvement in this muggling venture. Messrs Selu and Henuk pleaded guilty; Mr Magan pleaded not guilty. Mr Selu was sentenced on 23 July 2012.
Mr Selu was sentenced to 78 months imprisonment. In sentencing Mr Selu, Justice Lyons noted that because of his prior conviction, the defendant should have been aware of the high penalties associated with migrant smuggling in Australia.
Mr Magang was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.
Mr Henuk was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. Mr Henuk's sentence was higher because he had a prior conviction for people smuggling.
Supreme Court of Queensland (Court of Appeal)
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) appealed against the sentence imposed against Mr Selu. The appeal was allowed and the non-parole period reduced.
The smuggled migrants were taken to Christmas Island and placed in immigration detention.
Mr Selu was fisherman in Indonesian, earning as little as AUD 2 per day, when he was recruited to be the captain of SIEV 109. He was married and supported four of his 12 children who survived infancy.
He has a prior conviction for migrant smuggling from the Northern Territory, where he was sentenced to four years imprisonment.
Mr Henuk has a prior conviction for people smuggling from Australia.
The fourth crew member was a teenager who was returned to Indonesia because he was under age.
Mr Selu later told a court that man named Jabbal recruited him and flew him to Bali where je jointed the vessel that he wouild take to Australia.
Mr Selu was the captain of SIEV 109.
Mr Henuk acted as the engineer on board SIEV 109.
Considerable amounts of cash in various currencies were found in Mr Henuk's posession when Australian Federal Police officers searched SIEV 109. He faced the same charges as the other co-accuseds.
Mr Magang was the cook on board SIEV 109.
Mr Henuk acted as the engineer on board SIEV 109.
He was charged together with the captain and other crew of SIEV 109 on 5 August 2010, but further information about the criminal proceedings against him was not available at the time of writing. He faced the same charges as the other co-accuseds.
R v Selu [2012] QCA 345
This entry was copied from The Migrant Smuggling Case Database, launched by the University of Queensland Migrant Smuggling Working Group in August 2013.
SIEV 109 was the 18th migrant smuggling vessel to be interecepted in 2010.