ID :
184906
Fri, 05/27/2011 - 14:39
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http://m.oananews.org//node/184906
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Tragedy didn't stop accused smuggler: AFP
The alleged people smuggler accused of organising the asylum seeker journey that ended in tragedy off Christmas Island last year organised another boat just weeks later, police say.
Australian Federal Police arrested Iranian-born Ali Khorram Heydarkhani, who holds an Australian passport, earlier this month after he was deported from Indonesia.
Heydarkhani - also known as Haydar Khani and Ali Hamid - is now facing 89 charges relating to four boatloads of asylum seekers, including the ill-fated SIEV 221.
About 50 people are believed to have died when the boat smashed against rocks and broke apart off Christmas Island's Rocky Point in appalling conditions on December 15. Forty-two people survived.
AFP Deputy Commissioner of Operations Andrew Colvin on Friday revealed authorities believe the tragedy failed to deter Heydarkhani from organising another boat that arrived the following month.
Mr Colvin said Heydarkhani was also facing charges over SIEV 226, which arrived in Australia on January 4 this year.
Border Protection Command issued a media release on January 5 saying the HMAS Glenelg had intercepted a boat carrying about 90 people.
Heydarkhani is also accused of organising boats that arrived in Australian waters on July 12 and November 3, 2010. Three Indonesian crew members of the SIEV 221 are also facing charges.
"All of these men are now subject to domestic criminal processes, and it would be inappropriate for me to put too much more information on the record," Mr Colvin told a parliamentary committee on Friday.
The committee also heard from Australian Defence Force Vice Chief Lieutenant General David Hurley, who gave a rare insight into the limitations of Australia's Jindalee radar, also known as JORN.
"The detection of wooden vessels of the nature of SIEV 221 by JORN is highly improbable," Lieutenant General Hurley said.
"It must sit and dwell and look at an area - so you must know where you want to look.
"So it's not a search radar. You need other vectors to tell you 'look in this area' and then you dwell on that area."
Air Commodore James Brown told the committee JORN was designed to detect Armidale-size patrol boats, not small fishing boats.
Committee members also raised fresh questions about what intelligence Australia had about SIEV 221 before it arrived.
"There was no intelligence about specifically 221 but we did have a collection of intelligence material for the period pertaining to the 15th of December," Customs and Border Protection Command Deputy CEO Marion Grant said.
Liberal frontbencher Michael Keenan later asked: "Is it possible to get a definitive statement that none of the agencies of the Australian government were aware of the existence of this vessel?"
"That's the sort of thing we could discuss in camera," Mr Grant responded before the hearing moved into a private session.
Department of Immigration and Citizenship Deputy Secretary John Moorhouse confirmed all 42 survivors of the disaster were now living in mainland Australia - some in community detention, others as Australian residents.
Meanwhile, the Australian Greens on Friday called on the federal government to boost funding for the Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher, who is struggling under his asylum seeker caseload.
Mr Asher confirmed in a statement he was redirecting resources from other work to deal with the rising number of asylum seekers in detention.
Australian Federal Police arrested Iranian-born Ali Khorram Heydarkhani, who holds an Australian passport, earlier this month after he was deported from Indonesia.
Heydarkhani - also known as Haydar Khani and Ali Hamid - is now facing 89 charges relating to four boatloads of asylum seekers, including the ill-fated SIEV 221.
About 50 people are believed to have died when the boat smashed against rocks and broke apart off Christmas Island's Rocky Point in appalling conditions on December 15. Forty-two people survived.
AFP Deputy Commissioner of Operations Andrew Colvin on Friday revealed authorities believe the tragedy failed to deter Heydarkhani from organising another boat that arrived the following month.
Mr Colvin said Heydarkhani was also facing charges over SIEV 226, which arrived in Australia on January 4 this year.
Border Protection Command issued a media release on January 5 saying the HMAS Glenelg had intercepted a boat carrying about 90 people.
Heydarkhani is also accused of organising boats that arrived in Australian waters on July 12 and November 3, 2010. Three Indonesian crew members of the SIEV 221 are also facing charges.
"All of these men are now subject to domestic criminal processes, and it would be inappropriate for me to put too much more information on the record," Mr Colvin told a parliamentary committee on Friday.
The committee also heard from Australian Defence Force Vice Chief Lieutenant General David Hurley, who gave a rare insight into the limitations of Australia's Jindalee radar, also known as JORN.
"The detection of wooden vessels of the nature of SIEV 221 by JORN is highly improbable," Lieutenant General Hurley said.
"It must sit and dwell and look at an area - so you must know where you want to look.
"So it's not a search radar. You need other vectors to tell you 'look in this area' and then you dwell on that area."
Air Commodore James Brown told the committee JORN was designed to detect Armidale-size patrol boats, not small fishing boats.
Committee members also raised fresh questions about what intelligence Australia had about SIEV 221 before it arrived.
"There was no intelligence about specifically 221 but we did have a collection of intelligence material for the period pertaining to the 15th of December," Customs and Border Protection Command Deputy CEO Marion Grant said.
Liberal frontbencher Michael Keenan later asked: "Is it possible to get a definitive statement that none of the agencies of the Australian government were aware of the existence of this vessel?"
"That's the sort of thing we could discuss in camera," Mr Grant responded before the hearing moved into a private session.
Department of Immigration and Citizenship Deputy Secretary John Moorhouse confirmed all 42 survivors of the disaster were now living in mainland Australia - some in community detention, others as Australian residents.
Meanwhile, the Australian Greens on Friday called on the federal government to boost funding for the Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher, who is struggling under his asylum seeker caseload.
Mr Asher confirmed in a statement he was redirecting resources from other work to deal with the rising number of asylum seekers in detention.
