Drug death fight

By CASEY NEILL
A COCKATOO kinder campaigner is now doing all she can to save two Australians from a Bali firing squad.
Emerald Community House (ECH) chairwoman Mary Farrow is not content to sit back and hope for the best for convicted drug traffickers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
They were in their early twenties when they admitted to trying to transport drugs from Bali to Australia in 2005 and were sentenced to death.
Now their only chance to spend their lives in prison instead of facing a firing squad is an appeal for clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
“These boys made a stupid decision,” Ms Farrow said.
“Many of us have done stupid things in our youth and are lucky to be here to tell the tale.”
Ms Farrow engaged notable Victorians for support for Cockatoo’s McBride Street Kindergarten during last year’s battle to save it from demolition.
One letter pivotal to seeing the building heritage listed came from barrister Julian McMahon.
At the same time he was working tirelessly to save Chan and Sukumaran. Their dire situation and the kinder’s survival inspired Ms Farrow and ECH to support Mr McMahon’s humanitarian efforts.
“We are not content to just sit back and hope for the best,” Ms Farrow said.
“This is about shared responsibility at all levels, from the community upward.”
The house joined the clemency movement, the Mercy Campaign, and will engage organisations and towns across the country for support.
“My role in this is a somewhat daunting one, but no more than getting that kindergarten listed,” Ms Farrow said.
“How can I turn away from a life or death situation just because it is too hard?
“We will be relentless in our efforts. Whatever happens we know that we will have done everything possible and didn’t just sit back and hope for the best, like many.”
Ms Farrow and ECH have already secured endorsement for the campaign from the Victorian neighbourhood house peak body, the Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres (ANHLC), which represents about 400 centres.
Ms Farrow said Chan and Sukumaran had been working to engage others in Kerobokan Prison by leading art, computer, and English education classes.
“They are basically running a community house inside that prison,” she said.
“This is their community now and they are doing amazing things.
“The Indonesian prison system has provided them with an opportunity to redeem themselves. Why would you kill them now?”
In May ECH representatives met with Prime Minister Julia Gillard to ensure that she would ask Mr Yudhoyono for clemency for Chan and Sukumaran.
They gave Ms Gillard a photo of kinder campaigner Dot Griffin’s roof-top protest emblazoned with a signed plea to “save our boys” as the kinder was saved.
The same picture was also sent to Chan and Sukumaran.
They also revealed to Ms Gillard their idea to develop a workshop for travellers aged 18 to 25 heading to countries with the death penalty, to teach them about the culture, laws and obligations when travelling overseas.
Ms Farrow carries a picture of Sukumaran’s mother on a lanyard around her neck.
“It’s to remind me of her pain and agony, every day,” she said.
She said that after the Black Saturday bushfires Mr Yudhoyono said “Australia’s success is also Indonesia’s success, and its misery is also Indonesia’s misery”.
“We need to reach into the empathetic corners of that relationship,” Ms Farrow said.
Visit www.mercycampaign.org.au for more information.