Decorated photographer reveals rare Bali Nine frames

Australian Community Media

Mick Tsikas' award-winning photographs tell the story of the Bali Nine. Video by AAP

Transcript

00:00I was blown away. They were just kids. They were 19-year-old kids.

00:04They obviously did something stupid, but they were way over their heads of what they've done.

00:11They didn't have a clue what was going to happen to them.

00:14Shocked. It was the first time I heard anyone being sentenced to death.

00:19And that young, seeing someone that young, it really resonated with me. I really felt it.

00:25I felt sorry for them. From the moment I saw them, I felt sorry for them.

00:29They were young kids that made a mistake. Did they deserve 20 years?

00:34In Australia, they would have gotten 5 to 10 years. Here, they get death.

00:41They knew the price, but as young kids, you're bulletproof. Ten foot tall and bulletproof.

00:47It was a crazy time. They were executed in the middle of the morning, 2 o'clock in the morning.

00:55I'd been up for 24 hours at least, waiting for all this to happen, with no sleep.

01:01Do you remember when the news came that it was done?

01:04Yes. There was a radio report. They go, it's done.

01:07We're waiting for the barges to come across with the bodies.

01:10You didn't hear it. We couldn't hear the shots.

01:14They've lost half their life in a Bali prison, and now they're going to come to another prison.

01:21I think it would be bittersweet. They'll be happy they're home,

01:24but they've been calling Bali for 20 years they're home.

01:27Say Michael Shugai was 19. He's 40 now, so he spent 20 years in a Bali prison rather than Australia.

01:38He spent longer in Bali or Indonesia than he has in Australia.

01:41I'd say it would be bittersweet.

01:43This is what I want to walk away with. The first one is Renee Lawrence.

01:48That's when she finds out at that moment that they're seeking the death penalty for her.

01:53She got life, and then it got cut down to 20 years.

01:56The next photo is Scott Rush kissing his mother through the bars.

02:00The third photo just shows you how young they are in that cell with the bars going across their faces.

02:07It's Michael Shugai and Scott Rush, and they look like kids.

02:12Michael Shugai being met by his parents on that Tuesday for the first time,

02:16holding each other, crying. It was so emotional.

02:20Matthew Norman trying to hide away from the media in those holding cells.

02:24Then the next photo, the man in blue, is Andrew Chan.

02:28That's the first time we see him because he's kept off premises,

02:30and they bring him in for questioning.

02:32So he's handcuffed trying to hide his face.

02:35The next photo you see Andrew Chan on his own being arraigned or in court,

02:40and you can see off to the left-hand side is the judges.

02:45Then you can see this is Renee Lawrence, and she's holding her head, trying to cover her face.

02:51It was totally sad.

02:53The next photo is incredibly powerful.

02:55This is the moment where Andrew Chan's been told he's been given death.

03:00The word is marti in Bahasa.

03:04So marti means death.

03:06So as soon as the judge said marti, his translator leans over, whispers in his ear, death.

03:13In the back, you can see the journos on the right-hand side.

03:15In the middle, you can see a man punching the air.

03:18He was an anti-drugs advocate.

03:20On the left-hand side, you can see Chan's brother, Andrew Chan, and he's shattered.

03:25That was the end. I was finished with the job.

03:29Ten years later, in 2015, I get sent back again for the executions.

03:34The last photo you see is one of the bodies.

03:37I'm not sure who it is, Sukumaran or Chan.

03:41They've been put in an airport warehouse, and this is how it ends.

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