Jewel Topsfield and Amilia Rosa – Notorious people smuggler "Captain Bram", who organised the asylum seekers' boat at the centre of the notorious 'cash for boat-turn-back' scandal in 2015, has been sentenced to six years' jail in an Indonesian prison.
Abraham Louhenapessy, aka Captain Bram, was also ordered to pay 500 million rupiah (about $50,000) or serve another six months behind bars after a panel of judges in the Rote Ndao Court found him guilty of immigration offences.
Prosecutors had requested nine years' jail in addition to the fine, arguing he was a repeat offender. Judge Hiras Sitanggang said Louhenapessy had caused people smuggling to flourish and had been convicted of the same crime before.
The judges on Rote Island heard Louhenapessy purchased a fishing boat for 65 asylum seekers from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka to travel to New Zealand in mid-2015.
Fairfax Media revealed that an Indonesian police investigation had discovered that Australian authorities had intercepted the boat and paid its crew $US32,000 to return the asylum seekers to Indonesia.
The "cash for boat-turn-back" case caused a diplomatic incident between Australia and Indonesia, led to a Senate inquiry and prompted Amnesty International to call for a Royal Commission.
The payments were not denied by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who said the Australian government intended to "stop the boats" by "hook or by crook".
According to the court indictment, Louhenapessy was given 1.5 billion rupiah ($150,000) by Sri Lankan people smuggler Vishvanathan Thineshkumar in February 2015 to organise a boat to take "illegal immigrants" to New Zealand. He also hired another man to recruit crew and a captain.
During the trial, Louhenapessy confirmed the testimony of a crew member, who said he had been promised 100 million rupiah ($10,000) if the boat reached New Zealand successfully.
Defence lawyer Yesaya Dae Panie told the court Louhenapessy was sorry for his involvement in people-smuggling operations. "But he didn't just do it for the money. He also felt for the immigrants," Mr Yesaya said.
Louhenapessy refused to comment outside the court. Both the defence and prosecution have seven days to decide whether to appeal. "My client will consider the sentence," Mr Yesaya said.
However, Mr Yesaya said he believed the sentence was fair and on par with the penalty received by Captain Yohanis Humiang, who was sentenced to five years and eight months' jail in January 2016.
Captain Yohanis testified during his trial that Australian officials paid him $US32,000 to return 65 asylum seekers to Indonesia.
Louhenapessy escaped a jail term in 2010 for organising another attempt to bring more than 250 Sri Lankans on an overcrowded boat to Christmas Island the year before.
The ship was intercepted by the Indonesian navy after the personal intervention of former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who contacted former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Many of the Tamils on board refused for months to disembark when the boat docked in Western Java.
At the time, Indonesia did not have anti people-smuggling laws, and Louhenapessy got away with a fine for breaching sailing laws.
Indonesia passed laws criminalising people-smuggling in 2011, with penalties of between five and 15 years in prison for those people convicted.