<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/13/indonesians-could-be-compensated-children-wrongly-jailed-people-smugglers>
"Up to 220 Indonesians could receive compensation after they were wrongfully
prosecuted and detained as adult people smugglers in Australia despite being
children at the time.
Earlier this year, the federal government agreed to settle a significant class
action brought by a group of Indonesian children who were falsely prosecuted as
adult people smugglers between 2010 and 2012.
The children were wrongly deemed to be adults by federal police and Australian
courts, who were relying on a wildly inaccurate technique using interpretations
of wrist X-rays to determine age.
The prosecutions, launched in the highly charged political climate around
border protection, led to children as young as 12 being jailed in maximum
security adult prisons in Western Australia.
A
Guardian Australia investigation last year revealed that police relied on
the technique despite being aware of information casting serious doubt on its
reliability and accuracy.
Many of the convictions have since been overturned and lawyers acting for the
Indonesians, Ken Cush and Associates, are now suing the commonwealth in the
federal court.
The parties reached an agreement to settle for $27.5m, plus legal costs, in
October. That settlement is now awaiting approval by the federal court.
In the meantime, the parties are continuing to search for additional
Indonesians who were prosecuted or detained using the wrist X-rays."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
