A lawyer representing a convicted people smuggler who brought 562 refugees to Australia says his client hopes history will judge him in a "kinder light".

Dual Iraqi-Iranian citizen Hadi Ahmadi was the first person extradited from Indonesia to Australia in May 2009 on people-smuggling charges after an agreement was struck between Canberra and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Ahmadi, who has been recognised as a refugee by the UN High Commission for Refugees, twice tried to reach Australia by boat, but engine failure and a storm foiled those attempts.

Instead he began assisting people smugglers, finding accommodation for asylum seekers, collecting fees and taking them by bus to beaches where boats were waiting to take them to Australian waters.

The 35-year-old was found guilty by a Perth jury on two counts of illegally assisting asylum seekers reach Australia on two boats in 2001.