Maythem Radhi accused of being part of syndicate that charged 421 mostly Iraqi and Afghan refugees for place aboard Indonesian boat

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

An Iraqi man has been charged in Australia with people-trafficking in connection with the drowning deaths of more than 350 asylum seekers in the 2001 SIEV X tragedy.

Maythem Radhi, 43, was arrested at Brisbane airport late Friday after being extradited from New Zealand and has been charged with “organising groups of non-citizens into Australia”, police say.

He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The Australian federal police claims Radhi was a member of a people-smuggling syndicate that charged 421 mostly Iraqi and Afghan refugees for a place aboard an Indonesian fishing boat – designated by Australian authorities as Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel (SIEV) X – in October 2001.

The vessel sank in international waters south of Java on October 19 while en route to Australia’s Christmas Island, leaving 353 people dead, 146 of them children. Forty-four survivors were rescued the next day by an Indonesian fishing boat. A 45th survivor was rescued a further 12 hours later by another boat.

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Some of those on board SIEV X were trying to join family members already in Australia, but with whom they could not be reunited by plane because of visa restrictions.

Radhi appeared before Brisbane magistrates court on Saturday and has been remanded in custody to reappear in court on 31 October.

“Police will allege in court that the man, then aged 24, took payments from the passengers,” the Australian federal police said in a statement on Saturday, 18 years after the disaster.

“It will also be alleged that he helped facilitate the transportation and accommodation of people in Indonesia in preparation for their journey to Australia.”

Radhi is the third person to face court for their role in the disaster.

Iraqi people-smuggler Khaleed Shnayf Daoed was extradited from Sweden to Australia in 2003 and received a nine-year sentence two years later, with prosecutors portraying the then 36-year-old as a key organiser for Egyptian people-smuggler Abu Quassey.

Quassey was convicted in Egypt in December 2003 of causing death through negligence and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

The AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, on Saturday said the AFP was committed to bringing people smugglers to justice no matter how long it might take.

“More than 350 people died in this tragedy,” Kershaw said. “They are owed justice and we remain committed to deterring those who profit from this trade.”

The SIEV-X tragedy remains a seismic event in shaping Australia’s migration policies towards asylum seekers arriving by boat.

The sinking occurred during the 2001 Australian federal election campaign and after the Tampa crisis had made boat arrivals a key, and deeply controversial, election issue.

The incumbent Liberal prime minister, John Howard, had deployed the navy and AFP to prevent boats reaching Australian waters and international legal responsibility to rescue people from distressed vessels.

A 2002 Senate inquiry into the children overboard affair, Tampa crisis and SIEV X found that, while there were several gaps in the chain of reporting of intelligence on boat arrivals, it could find no grounds for believing that negligence or dereliction of duty was committed in relation to SIEV X.

“The committee, nevertheless, finds it disturbing that no review of the SIEV X episode was conducted by any agency in the aftermath of the tragedy. No such review occurred until after the committee’s inquiry had started and public controversy developed over the Australian response to SIEV X,” it said.

“While there were reasonable grounds to explain the Australian response to SIEV X, the committee finds it extraordinary that a major human disaster could occur in the vicinity of a theatre of intensive Australian operations, and remain undetected until three days after the event, without any concern being raised within intelligence and decision making circles.”

A memorial to the victims of SIEV X stands on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra.