QLD: Rush thinks of execution "every second of the day"

AAP General News (Australia)
02-19-2008
QLD: Rush thinks of execution "every second of the day"

Eds: Embargoed to 0001 AEDT Tuesday, February 19



BRISBANE, Feb 19 AAP - Bali Nine death row inmate Scott Rush says the thought of being
executed weighs on his mind every second of the day.

In an exclusive interview with SBS TV's Cutting Edge program to air tonight, the 21-year-old
also says he was motivated by money and the chance to have "a bit of an adventure".

Scott Rush is one of six Bali Nine members facing execution for drug offences in Indonesia.

In October 2007, he and fellow Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, along
with two Indonesian death row convicts, had their challenge to the death penalty dismissed
by Indonesia's Constitutional Court.

The Australians' last avenue of appeal is a Supreme Court review of the sentences,
while the prime minister could also make a plea to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono for clemency.

Rush tells SBS there were a number of factors behind his actions.

"I didn't have a concrete job at the time, I was waiting to go to the air force. I
mean, I think about this and sometimes the answer changes in my own head."

He had never been overseas and was not carrying a passport when he landed in Bali.

"I mean, everyone likes a bit of adventure now and then," he said.

But he said he was reluctant to go to Bali.

"Quite honestly I didn't want to come because I didn't feel comfortable.

"I didn't know what I was risking, I didn't know there was a death penalty, I didn't
know anything about Bali really."

He now regrets the pain he caused his family.

"They had a lot of, I don't know, expectance for me I guess, I mean I do feel bad."

He said the thought of execution weighed heavily.

"It weighs on my mind pretty much every second of the day.

"I mean I can't have a normal conversation like I used to be able to because of this.

"It's always in my mind. Always in the back of my head or it stops sometimes at the front."

But he remained hopeful of being released.

"I feel that I will. I mean if I've got any sort of instinct, obviously I'm hoping that I will."

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KEYWORD: INDON NINE

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