Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen (; 30 October 1983 – 9 May 2018) was a Vietnamese–Australian citizen. He was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the

Bali Nine The Bali Nine were a group of nine Australians convicted for attempting to drug smuggling, smuggle of heroin out of Indonesia in April 2005. The heroin was valued at around 4 million and was bound for Australia. Ringleaders Andrew Chan ( ...

. In 2005, Nguyen was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in

Kuta, Bali Kuta () is a Tourist attraction, tourist area, administratively an Villages of Indonesia, urban village (''kelurahan''), and the capital of Kuta District, Badung Regency, southern Bali, Indonesia. Kuta is a part of the Denpasar metropolitan area, ...

together with three others. Police uncovered of heroin in a suitcase in the room. After a criminal trial, on 15 February 2006 Nguyen was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

. His appeal to the

Indonesian Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia () is the independent judicial arm of the state. It maintains a system of courts and sits above the other courts and is the final court of appeal. It can also re-examine cases if new evidence emerg ...

to have the sentence reduced suffered a shock when the Supreme Court imposed the death penalty on 6 September 2006. A subsequent appeal to the Indonesian Supreme Court, following a full confession by Nguyen of his role in the plan to import heroin from Bali to Australia, resulted in the original sentence of life imprisonment being reinstated. Some media reports claimed Nguyen was believed to be a financer of the smuggling plan. An Indonesian justice ministry official announced on 5 June 2018 that Nguyen had died of stomach cancer on 9 May.

Trafficking conspiracy

Media reports based on the testimony of co-conspirator,

Renae Lawrence Renae Lawrence (born 11 October 1977) is an Australian woman who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In April 2005, on her third trip to Bali, Lawrence was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport ...

, claim that Nguyen (going by the alias of David), from

Wellington Point Wellington Point is a residential coastal locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. It is a popular seaside destination within the Brisbane metropolitan area and is notable for a popular walk along a sandbar to King Island which em ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland, had arranged an earlier attempt at trafficking from Indonesia to Australia. This attempt in December 2004 involved Lawrence, Andrew Chan,

Matthew Norman Matthew James Norman (born 17 September 1986) is an Australian man who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Norman was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta together with three others. ...

and others. The delivery was aborted when heroin suppliers failed to deliver "due to a financial matter or someone knowing about the plan the shipment was cancelled". Further media reports, again based on court testimonies, claim that Nguyen met Michael Czugaj and Scott Rush (both Brisbane school friends) in a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...

where Nguyen reportedly offered Rush and Czugaj an all-expenses-paid trip to Bali. Arriving in Bali on or about 8 April 2005, Rush and Czugaj met co-ringleaders

Myuran Sukumaran Myuran Sukumaran (17 April 1981 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian who was convicted in Indonesia of drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Sukumaran was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta, Bali with eight othe ...

and Andrew Chan at the Hard Rock Hotel, and also Renae Lawrence and Martin Stephens. On 14 April, Norman, Si Yi Chen, Lawrence and Stephens checked into Adhi Dharma hotel in Bali, with Nguyen arriving in the same hotel two days later. In the evening of Sunday 17 April, acting like tourists, Nguyen, Norman, and Chen checked into the Melasti Hotel. Myuran Sukumaran, who was also with them, with his bags, left them with the others as he decided to go to the Hard Rock Hotel complex. All were later convicted of drug trafficking as fellow members of the Bali Nine.

Arrest in Indonesia

Approximately 20 minutes after checking in, Nguyen was arrested at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta on 17 April 2005 with Matthew Norman, Myuran Sukumaran and Si Yi Chen. Indonesian police claim the group were in possession of of heroin and bundles of plastic wrapping, Elastoplast tape, and a set of scales, indicating involvement in a plan to transport drugs to Australia. Earlier that day at

Ngurah Rai International Airport I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport , also known as Denpasar International Airport, is the main international airport of Bali, Indonesia. Located from Downtown Denpasar, it serves the Denpasar metropolitan area and the whole island of Bal ...

Denpasar Denpasar (; Balinese script, Balinese: ᬤᬾᬦ᭄ᬧᬲᬃ, ''Dénpasar'') is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. Denpasar is the largest city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second largest city in Eastern Indonesia after ...

, Indonesian police also arrested the following

drug mules A mule or courier is someone who personally smuggles contraband across a border (as opposed to sending by mail, etc.) for a smuggling organization. The organizers employ mules to reduce the risk of getting caught themselves. Methods of smugglin ...

after they were found carrying various amounts of heroin concealed on their bodies. Martin Stephens was found to be carrying ; Renae Lawrence was found to be carrying ; Michael Czugaj was found to be carrying and Scott Rush was found to be carrying of heroin. Co-ringleader Andrew Chan was also arrested the same day while seated on an

Australian Airlines Australian Airlines was a full-service airline based in Australia, serving Australian and Asian destinations between 2002 and 2006. It was an all-economy, full-service international leisure carrier, and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Qant ...

flight waiting to depart

for Sydney. At the time of his arrest, Chan was carrying three mobile phones and a boarding pass. No drugs were found in his possession.

Criticism of Australian Federal Police tipoff

Lee Rush, the father of Scott Rush, a fellow member of the Bali Nine, said that he contacted the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

(AFP) prior to the commission of the offence, fearing his son was travelling to Bali and would commit a

drug-related crime A drug-related crime is a crime to possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse (such as cocaine, heroin, morphine and amphetamines). Drugs are also related to crime as drug trafficking and drug product ...

. Rush senior claims then to have received assurances from the AFP that they would tell his son he was under

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

to dissuade him from going through with the crime before the group's departure from Indonesia. Scott Rush's lawyers said he was never contacted. It was revealed that the AFP alerted Indonesian police that a crime was to be committed approximately two weeks before the arrests, and had commenced an investigation about ten weeks prior to the arrests. When the Bali Nine were arrested, the news of the tipoff became public and there was criticism of the role of the AFP in protecting the interests of Australian citizens. Commenting on the matter at the time, AFP

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

Mick Keelty was reported as saying: Rush took action in the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...

against the AFP for breach of the

bilateral treaty A bilateral treaty (also called a bipartite treaty) is a treaty strictly between two subjects of public international law, generally either sovereign states or international organisations established by treaty. It is an agreement made by negotiat ...

between Indonesia and Australia when information was handed by the AFP to the Indonesians. Rush's case claimed that such information should only be released by the

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. However, the Commonwealth Government maintained that the treaty only applies after a suspect is charged. The application was dismissed by the Federal Court in January 2006.

Criminal trial

Criminal trial Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

s for the accused commenced in the Denpasar District Court on 11 October 2005. Chen, Nguyen, and Norman, all arrested at the Melasti Hotel and earning the

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

, The Melasti Three, were tried together, with the remaining six defendants tried separately. In December 2005, it was reported that tensions were building between the Bali Nine drug mules and Sukumaran and Chan. Several days later, lawyers acting for some members of the Bali Nine initially sought the support of the Director of Public Prosecutions to intervene and lay charges for conspiracy to import drugs, so that the nine could be extradited and charged under Australian law. However, the judges hearing the trial matters in Bali called on Australia not to interfere in Indonesia's right to impose capital punishment;. Lawyers acting for Stephens, one of the Bali Nine, claimed that the fairness of his trial was in jeopardy following comments made in the media by Indonesian Foreign Minister

Hassan Wirajuda Noer Hassan Wirajuda (born 9 July 1948 in Tangerang, West Java, Indonesia) is an Indonesian politician who was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Indonesia), foreign minister of Indonesia from 2001 to 2009. He served during the presidencies of Mega ...

that Australians should be prepared for members of the Bali Nine to receive a death sentence, if found guilty. During his trial, Nguyen was accused of both recruiting members and financing the drug importation scheme. Czugaj, since convicted, stated that he travelled to Bali, with school friend Scott Rush, after Rush introduced him to Nguyen. Their reason for travel was that Nguyen offered them both a free holiday to Bali. When asked why he chose to travel to Bali on a paid holiday, Rush replied: :"Basically we got the response that 'Nguyen''didn't have anyone to come to Bali with him". Nguyen refused to testify; Czugaj confirmed Rush's account of events as being true.

Sentencing and appeal

During his final plea to judges, Nguyen said: On 15 February 2006, Nguyen was sentenced to life imprisonment. Commenting on the sentences at the time, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Keelty stated: The Australian Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

was reported as commenting: Appealing against the sentence, on 6 September 2006, his sentence was upgraded to the death penalty. On 5 March 2008, three judges in the Indonesian Supreme Court in Jakarta decided to spare the lives of Nguyen, Chen, and Norman.

Prison life

After initially serving time in Bali's

Kerobokan Prison Kerobokan Penitentiary Institution (, also known as LP Kerobokan, Kerobokan Prison or Hotel K) is a prison located in Kerobokan, Badung Regency, on the Indonesian island of Bali. Located 4 km (2.49 miles) away from the Canggu village, the ...

, in 2014 Nguyen and Stephens were transferred to a prison in

Malang Malang (; , ), historically known as Tumapel, is an inland List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of the Singhasari, Singhasari K ...

East Java East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...

when it was reported that they had violated prison rules.

Death

Nguyen died from cancer on 9 May 2018 in a Jakarta hospital, aged 34, confirmed by the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Tan Duc Thanh 1983 births 2018 deaths 21st-century Australian criminals Australian drug traffickers Australian people of Vietnamese descent Australian people who died in prison custody Australian prisoners sentenced to death Australian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to death by Indonesia Australian people imprisoned abroad Vietnamese people imprisoned abroad Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Indonesia Foreign nationals imprisoned in Indonesia Prisoners who died in Indonesian detention Deaths from cancer in Indonesia Deaths from stomach cancer People from Redland City 2018 in Indonesia Filipino people of Vietnamese descent