The Australian lawyer who fought tirelessly to save Bali Nine members Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan from the firing squad has been awarded Australia’s highest civilian honor.
Earning a spot on the Queen’s Birthday honours list, Julian McMahon was recognized for his pro-bono efforts defending Australians facing the death penalty overseas and his fight to abolish capital punishment.
The barrister says he cannot take full credit for the honor and that there have been so many people involved in the work he’s done.
“Even though it is my face, I am a reflection of the people supporting us from neighborhoods, strangers and all those who offer support,” he told AAP.
McMahon defended Van Tuong Nguyen who was hanged in Singapore in 2005 for drug trafficking.
But two of his most high profile clients, no doubt, were Chan and Sukumaran, members of the Bali Nine. The pair faced the death penalty in Indonesia after they were caught in a plot to traffic over eight kilos of heroin into Bali back in 2005.
While McMahon was ultimately unsuccessful in sparing Chan and Sukumaran—who both ended up in front of the firing squad a decade later in April 2015—McMahon fought fiercely for them and even more clients, dedicating years to advocating for Australians on death row abroad. No easy undertaking.
A major win for the barrister includes the freeing and eventual exoneration of George Forbes in 2007 after the Australian businessman was wrongfully imprisoned for murder in Sudan.
McMahon was also named the Victorian Australian of the Year in 2015 for his inspiring career, in which a large part has been raising public awareness about the death penalty.
Australians have become increasingly opposed to the death penalty after seeing citizens killed abroad for non-violent drug offenses, McMahon believes.
“I think it’s been a developing idea basically since the execution of Van Nguyen, which many people rightly thought was an appalling outcome,” McMahon told Fairfax Media.
“The public consciousness was awakened to the reality of executions, which hadn’t really featured in public life for a long time. It was on a slow burn until the lead-up to the executions of Chan and Sukumaran. Their case led to such intense analysis, discussion and political input, it is now beyond dispute that we simply understand as a nation the death penalty is unacceptable.”
McMahon’s new honor puts him amongst the ranks of champions for climate change, same-sex marriage, philanthropists, and actress Cate Blanchett, making this year’s birthday honours list apparently the most progressive in Australian history.
