RI seaman gets 7 years for people-smuggling

RI seaman gets 7 years for people-smuggling

PERTH, Australia (AFP): An Indonesian seaman was jailed for seven years on Friday for attempting to smuggle 282 illegal immigrants, the biggest group ever caught by Australian authorities, earlier this year.

The seven-year sentence, one of the toughest handed out to people-smugglers by an Australian court, sent a clear message to those thinking of becoming involved in such a business, judge David Charters said in the District Court of Western Australia.

Wira Cita, 27, of Jakarta, pleaded guilty three days earlier to people-smuggling in February.

He had been in custody since being arrested by Australian federal police, who intercepted a boat crewed by him and another man off Christmas Island with 282 illegal immigrants on board.

The group risked treacherous seas for two days to reach the island.

Defense lawyer Rodney Keeley told the court Cita lived in Jakarta and was unemployed for about three years when a man offered him the chance to take a boat to Australia.

He was paid Rp 1 million (about US$120) in advance and would have received a total of Rp 8 million for the job.

Keeley said the money might not be regarded by Australians as enough to justify the difficult voyage or the possible consequences. For Cita, however, with a wife and young child to support, it was an attractive offer.

The court heard that since last July, courts in Western Australia dealt with 63 crew members from 18 boats which brought a total of 1,200 illegal immigrants, mainly from the Middle East, to Australia.

Charters warned Cita at the earlier hearing that he could expect a heavy penalty because of the big number of people on his boat.

Jail terms for fishermen previously convicted of bringing boat people into Australia have mainly ranged between three years and four years.

Cita will have to serve a minimum of three and a half years before he is eligible for parole.