More than 1000 Aussie suspects named to nations with death penalty
The Australia Federal Police (AFP) has assisted investigative authorities from countries that carry the death penalty with more than 1000 names, new figures show.
Across five years, the names of 1847 people have been provided to such foreign agencies looking into drug, smuggling, terrorism and human trafficking incidents, like the Bali Nine.
The number comes from official police figures obtained through a freedom of information act by researcher Sarah Gill that also shows more than 95 per cent of those referrals were for drug cases.
Twelve Australians are currently on death row, including nine in China, on such charges though authorities have previously stated none of those dozen are there because of federal police intervention.
AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin after the Bali Nine executions said the body “organisationally” opposed the death penalty and that it stringently managed reports made to foreign agencies.
"The AFP cannot limit its co-operation to countries that have similar legal systems as Australia ... [and] without the ability to work with all of its international partners, the AFP simply could not function,” an AFP spokesman added.
News break - September 8
