Indonesian boys wrongly imprisoned by Australia ask attorney general for new appeal

Earlier this year, Guardian Australia used a trove of internal documents to reveal how federal police had placed fictitious dates of birth on sworn legal documents to prosecute eight Indonesian children as adult people smugglers, relying on a wrist X-ray age assessment technique they knew at the time to be questionable.

Interview transcripts obtained by Guardian Australia show the Indonesians repeatedly told police, immigration and navy officers that they were children, something that should have seen them sent home in accordance with federal policy. Instead, police used the wrist X-ray interpretations to deem them adults, despite being warned over the reliability of the technique seven years earlier.

Earlier this year, six of the eight boys had their convictions overturned by the WA court of appeal, which found the reliance on the wrist X-rays had led to a miscarriage of justice.

Both Anto and Samsul were 15 at the time of their arrest. Each spent years in detention before being released and sent back to Indonesia, where they now live.

Photographs taken immediately after they were detained, obtained by Guardian Australia, clearly show their childlike appearance.

In 2020, Anto and Samsul turned to then attorney general Christian Porter to ask him to use his powers of mercy and refer their cases for appeal.

They said the courts had now overturned convictions in eight separate cases where wrist X-ray evidence had been used.

In the six most recent cases, prosecutors conceded a miscarriage of justice had occurred.

Porter responded to the complaint by dismissing the concerns and placing heavy reliance on the wrist X-rays conducted by federal police.

Porter has not responded to multiple requests for comment on his handling of the cases.