Seventeen Australians on or facing death row a year after Bali Nine deaths - A year after the Bali Nine executions, Indonesia prepares firing squads again

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, a grandmother from Sydney, faces death by hanging if convicted in the Malaysian high court of smuggling 1.1kg of ice. Photograph: Azhar Rahim/EPA

Figures show Australian federal police provided information for ‘potential death penalty situations’ 74 times in past year.

In the year since Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran faced an Indonesian firing squad, their wishes appear to have been posthumously granted, at least in part – no more Australians have been added to the list of those potentially facing the death penalty.

But of at least 17 Australians still thought to be at risk of execution overseas, life on death row has become a grim reality for at least one man and the fate of another could be known within days.

On the anniversary of the execution of Chan and Sukumaran over a thwarted plan to smuggle heroin out of Bali, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not respond when asked how many Australians in jail could face capital punishment.

It is understood there has been no change to the number Dfat confirmed last year, with groups including the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties not aware of any new cases.

A year after the Bali Nine executions, Indonesia prepares firing squads again

But, in the past year, the prospect of execution drew closer for a former Adelaide jockey given a suspended death sentence in China for smuggling ice.

And a verdict on another ice smuggling case in China, which will decide the fate of a young dual Australian and New Zealand citizen, could be just days away.

The two men are among as many as 11 Australians thought to be held over drug prosecutions in a single southern Chinese city, Guangzhou. The possibility of execution by lethal injection or firing squad looms for all of them.

In Malaysia, an Australian woman could be hanged if found guilty of drug smuggling. In Vietnam, a Sydney man faces the prospect of secret execution by lethal injection of locally manufactured chemicals of “unknown efficacy”, according to Amnesty International.

While the number of Australians on or facing death row held steady, the level of involvement by the Australian federal police in transnational investigations that could result in death penalties declined – but was still significant.

Figures provided to Guardian Australia show the AFP provided information for investigations known as “potential death penalty situations” 74 times in the past year.

This was down from 100 times in 2014 and 89 times in 2012 but more than the 50 times in 2013.

Of those 74 information exchanges in 2015, 11 of them were with the approval of Michael Keenan, the minister for justice, as required in cases where suspects are already charged or convicted.

It is not known how many of these related to Australian citizens.

Guardian Australia was told that information provided by the AFP could include criminal history or lack thereof in Australia, which may be used by the accused to bolster their defences. The AFP has faced prolonged criticism for its role in tipping off Indonesian authorities about the plot of the “Bali Nine”, which led to Chan and Sukumaran’s executions.
A Guangzhou customs official in 2014 cited growing cooperation with the AFP in recent years after a surge in drug arrests in the city involving Australians. In China, possession of more than 100g of an illicit drug automatically results in a trafficking charge and a possible death sentence.
Andrew Chan’s brother Michael recently told Reprieve Australia that while the anniversary of his death was “a rollercoaster ride for the family to come to terms with the loss”, it was important to maintain public discussion of capital punishment.
“Countries need to look at ways to rehabilitate prisoners instead of executing them,” he said. “We need to keep talking about this issue so we can abolish the death penalty for good.
“I know this was what Andrew wanted and also need to speak up for the rest of the people that are on death row so they can be heard.”
Chan’s widow, Febyanti Herewila, said his legacy was a renewed push for the death penalty to be abolished and the principle of “a second chance”.
“Also Andrew wants the young people from around the world to learn from his life,” she said. “Whatever decisions you make today it will determine your future.”
Countries that apply the death penalty on those convicted of using, dealing or trafficking drugs include Indonesia, Thailand, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates.
Anthony Roger Bannister, 43 (China)
Australian jockey Bannister was handed a suspended death sentence last June after his March 2014 arrest for drug smuggling in Guangzhou. More than 3kg of crystal methamphetamine was found in envelopes stuffed into eight handbags in his luggage. Bannister claimed to have been set up after being promised a lucrative divorce settlement. Bannister, whose death sentence could be commuted to life in prison after two years of good behaviour, vowed to appeal the ruling, Fairfax Media reported.

Peter Gardner, 25 (China)
A dual New Zealand/Australian citizen, Gardner was arrested at Guangzhou airport, China, on 8 November 2014 after customs officials allegedly found 30kg of methamphetamine in his bags.
A verdict in Gardner’s trial in Guangzhou’s municipal intermediate court was expected before the end of April. But his lawyer, Craig Tuck, told Guardian Australia that no date had yet been set.
“It is difficult to say [when it will be],” Tuck said. “The warrant to detain is reviewed this month.”
Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, 52 (Malaysia)
Exposto, a grandmother from Sydney, faces death by hanging if convicted in the Malaysian high court of smuggling 1.1kg of ice.
She was arrested in December 2014 at Kuala Lumpur airport, en route from Shanghai to Australia.
Exposto has claimed she was the victim of a sophisticated online romance scam and was duped into being an unwitting drug mule.

Andrew wants the young people from around the world to learn from his life.

Her lawyer, Tania Scivetti, told Guardian Australia her case was fixed for hearing from 20 June to 24 June.
Malaysian law carries a mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking. Three Australian nationals have been executed by the state: Michael McAuliffe in 1993, and Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers in 1986.
Bengali Sherrif and Ibrahim Jalloh (China)
Sherrif and Jalloh were arrested by Chinese authorities at Guangzhou airport in June 2014. Sherrif was sentenced last April to a suspended death penalty for attempting to smuggle methamphetamine to Australia. Like Bannister’s, Sherrif’s sentence could also be commuted to life in prison after two years of good behaviour.
Jalloh went on trial last July, his lawyers arguing he had an intellectual disability that allowed him to be duped into acting as a drug mule. Prosecutors argued he was fit to stand trial as a Chinese psychiatrist found he had only “slight mental development delay”, Fairfax reported. The progress of his case is not known.
Pham Trung Dung, 37 (Vietnam)
Dung was sentenced to death in June 2014 after being discovered with more than 4kg of heroin as he boarded a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia in May 2013. Dfat said at the time: “We understand that he has the right of appeal. Whether he decides to do so is a matter for the man and his lawyers.” It is not known whether Dung appealed.
Amnesty International has raised concerns about the secrecy of Vietnam’s executions and its use of domestically produced chemicals for lethal injection.
The five Australians who have received death penalties for heroin trafficking in Vietnam have had their sentences commuted to life in prison, according to the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties.

Henry Chhin (China)
Chhin, convicted of attempting to mail 270g of ice to Australia, was given the death penalty with a two-year suspension in March 2005.
It is still not clear whether Chhin remains on death row or not.
The then 35-year-old from Sydney was arrested in Shenzhen in May 2004 for attempting to mail 270g of methamphetamine to Australia, the Shenzhen Daily reported. The box, which allegedly contained the drugs and computer software, was intercepted by Shanghai police two days before. Local police said another 700g of the same drug was found in kitchen cabinets and the sitting room of Chhin’s residence.