3 RI boys in Australian adult jail to be released

 Three Indonesian boys who have been held in an Australian jail for adults for months for alleged involvement in people smuggling will be released soon, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Michael Tene said here on Friday.

Tene, however, did not give a further explanation about the reasons for their release and how the Australian authorities had come to the decision. 

"We are still waiting for detailed information from our embassy in Canberra and Consulate General in Sydney," he said.

In January 2010, Ose Lani (15), Ako Lani and John Ndolu (16), were arrested by Australian water police in a boat carrying illegal immigrants. The boys who were on the boat as cooks and deck hands were facing five years in jail in a high security jail under harsh mandatory sentencing laws.

According to a report, the three kids were put in a jail for grownups because a wrist X-ray examination police had done to determine their age had shown they were not children.

But the boys` defense lawyers, citing a number of studies and judicial rulings, say X-ray tests were unreliable and inadequate to determine the age of children.

Meanwhile, the boys` lawyers have obtained extracts of their birth certificates confirming that Ose Lani was 15 and John Ndollu 16 years old. A birth certificate showing Ako Lani was 16 was being sent from Indonesia. But prosecutors say it will take weeks, or even months, for police to verify the evidence.

According Australian news agency AAP, the Brisbane Magistrate Court on Friday (June 17) had granted the teens bail.

The court heard welfare officers from the Department of Immigration would take care of them until an age determination hearing was conducted. Crown prosecutors did not oppose the bail ruling.

The case would be heard again on July 1, and then an age determination hearing date would be set. (T.A051/B/HAJM/13:30/f001)

Source: ANTARA