The lawyer who helped free Mohamed Haneef -- the Indian doctor wrongly accused of aiding a terror plot -- is now defending several Indonesians facing people-smuggling charges in Australia.
Peter Russo says many accused are unaware they're even committing an offence when they join boat crews.
He has just visited villages in Java where families have been left destititute because the breadwinner is behind bars.
The Brisbane based lawyers approached the Javanese family home of a client they're defending in Australia. The visit is met at first with caution and then tears as the family describes how Nur Hasan was lied to about the purpose of the voyage he joined.
His relative, Via Aminah said he was asked to go fishing.
Four months ago, while Mr Hasan was in an Australian jail awaiting trial his wife became sick and died leaving their three-year-old daughter Sulis in the care of family.
"If it is possible to let him out I appeal to the Australians please help him to get out so he can see his daughter although he won't see his wife," she said.
Mr Hasan was recently found not guilty of people smuggling as prosecutors were unable to prove that he intended to come to Australia. It's prompted calls for a review to the manner in which some charges are handled.
Defence lawyers say many Indonesian recruits are impoverished, uneducated and unaware of what they have agreed to.
Amy Soong, his lawyer, says people are taking advantage of vulnerable people.
"These people are simple minded people and they are being taken advantage of by the people who organise these boat trips," she said.
At the village home of another accused smuggler hungry children devour the lawyers' good-will gift a humble packet of biscuits.
Their client's wife says she can't make ends meet without him.
"For my daily needs and meals, now I am forced to ask my parents every day," Suaybah Nasir said.
Last week, her husband Nasir Nasir was found guilty of people smuggling. But the lawyers say they'll appeal the verdict partially on the grounds of a lack of intent.
But some accused people smugglers approach the predicament very differently.
One client recently entered a guilty plea as he felt it would actually improve his situation. Last month he was sentenced to the mandatory five years in prison with a three-year non-parole period.
The $8-per-day he'll receive in an Australian jail is considered a windfall for his impoverished family and for him it's an opportunity too good to refuse.
Lawyer Peter Russo says what little money they can earn while incarcerated can support their families.
"Eight dollars a day is an insignificant amount of money for an Australian but would appear to be a significant amount of money to some of the people that I've met," he said. Meaning in all likelihood the people smuggling syndicates will continue to draw on a large but often unsuspecting workforce.
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