Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court will fast-track the appeal that will decide the fate of five Australians detained in Papua for more than eight months for visa violations, the judge overseeing the case revealed yesterday.
And separately, the court has assured the lawyers for the five North Queensland residents that its deliberations will ignore submissions from prosecutors highlighting Australia's policy of burning Indonesian fishing boats.
In an extraordinary tangle with Indonesian authorities, William Scott-Bloxam, his wife Vera, Karen Burke, Keith Mortimer and Hubert Hofer have been placed under arrest, found guilty and sentenced to two to three years in prison, freed and told to go home, and then placed under city detention.
They are currently awaiting a final appeal by prosecutors, who want their prison terms reinstated for the offence of flying a light plane to Merauke for a sightseeing trip without the proper paperwork.
The pilot, Mr Scott-Bloxam, had submitted one fight plan but not a second plan required for the politically sensitive region of Papua, where a low-level separatist movement has simmered for decades.
He landed the plane after being told by air traffic controllers that he was clear to do so and would only be fined and questioned for the infringement. "I have told my team to act quickly. I have told them to prioritise the case," Judge Djoko Sarwoko told The Age yesterday.
Judge Sarwoko, who is the most senior of three justices examining the case, had yet to see submissions but said the judges would decide soon. A verdict is expected next month.
Judge Sarwoko's undertaking follows revelations in The Age yesterday that the prosecutor's submission to the Supreme Court slammed Australia's treatment of Indonesian fisherman who breached its territorial waters. Reaffirming their guilt was "in accordance to the law... unlike our neighbouring country who, without legal process, burn and sink Indonesian fishing boats that enter their territorial borders".
The submission highlighted how the case of the so-called Merauke Five has been infected by broader political and diplomatic issues, explaining why prosecutors from the Attorney-General's office are relentlessly pursuing the Australians.
A lawyer for the five Australians, Muhammed Rifan, said he had met Supreme Court justices yesterday.