Commonwealth agrees to settle with more than 120 Indonesians wrongly detained as adult people smugglers, some when they were as young as 12
Australia will pay $27m compensation to Indonesians held in adult jails when they were children
Submitted 1 year ago by LineNoise@kbin.social to australia@aussie.zone
DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de 1 year ago
It’s not really the police to blame here but the judicial system and by extension the Australian people.
It’s the police prosecution’s job to prosecute - to present the case against an individual charged with a crime. It’s the court’s job to determine what, of the evidence provided, is credible and whether the weight of evidence is sufficient to convict. Er go, a judge allowed a jury to be convinced of this evidence.
Assylum seekers haven’t really been making headlines in Australia in the last decade or so as a result of a raft of aggressive policies that Australians have supported all the way along. Lets not forget the fever pitch of the successful “stop the boats” liberal campaign in 2013, that Australia showed dramatic support for.
abhibeckert@beehaw.org 1 year ago
It’s also the police’s job to not prosecute when doing so would be inappropriate.
How many times has an Australian law enforcement office prosecuted a 12 year old kid been for people smuggling? Surely the number is zero. So why were 12 year old kids detained pending a prosecution that was never going to happen?
If it was “detained until we could find somewhere safe to take them” that would be perfectly fine as long as they find somewhere very quickly. These kids were held in jail for years.
DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de 1 year ago
I disagree. The police should have very, very little discretion as regards deciding whether to prosecute. Where a crime has been committed, the reasons not to prosecute should basically be limited to a lack of evidence, or procedural issues. If the court has shown a willingness to allow this x-ray evidence then the police should not have discretion not to use it.
Police apply the law, the populace ensures the law is ethical.