Achmad Olong, 42, pleaded guilty to a charge of people-smuggling last week.

Achmad Olong, 42, pleaded guilty to a charge of people-smuggling last week.
A Northern Territory court was told Olong arranged the passage of 353 asylum seekers, charging fees of between $US1700 ($2000) and $US3500 each. After two failed attempts, the vessel headed out to sea from Indonesia with its human cargo but was stopped in November 1999 by HMAS Dubbo at Ashmore Reef, about 800km west of Darwin.
Olong's defence lawyer Greg Smith said his client had smuggled the people, who were mostly Iraqis, because he felt sorry for their suffering under Saddam Hussein.
Handing down a five-year sentence today with a minimum non-parole period of 30 months, NT Justice Stephen Southwood said the vessel was overcrowded and rank.
"Some passengers were holding up children and yelling out for assistance," he said.
"The Australian boarding team were confronted with an overpowering stench, rubbish littering the decks, stifling heat, and numerous people were ill, including a woman who was in labour and another woman experiencing a possible miscarriage."
The sentence was welcomed by Federal Minister for Immigration Senator Chris Evans, who called people-smuggling an "abhorrent crime".