Witness History14 Apr 2025

The Bali Nine drug smuggling case

In April 2005, nine young Australians were caught trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin out of Indonesia.

The Bali Nine, as they became known, faced a maximum sentence of death by firing squad under Indonesia's strict drug laws.

Bishop Tim Harris, who formed a close relationship with one of the Bali Nine families, and visited members of the group in prison has been speaking to Dan Hardoon.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Scott Rush of Brisbane and Andrew Chan of Sydney are walked into the Denpasar District Court on October 13, 2005 in Denpasar, Indonesia. Credit:(Photo by Jason Childs/Getty Images)

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(2000)

Defeating the screwworm

In the 1950s, scientist Edward Knipling began what would become one of the most successful eradication campaigns in history: the fight against the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that cau...

21 Aug 10min

'I created the duck cake from Bluey'

First published in 1980, the Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book brought novelty cakes to the masses. From the swimming pool filled with jelly, to the ghost and the 'choo choo trai...

20 Aug 10min

Canada's controversial resettlement programme

In 1954, a massive government-run resettlement programme began in Canada.This saw the relocation of nearly 30,000 people from isolated ‘outport’ fishing communities in Newfoundland and Labrador to des...

19 Aug 9min

The battle of Mandalay in WW2

In March 1945, the British Fourteenth Army were advancing on the city of Mandalay in central Burma, now known as Myanmar, which was held by the Japanese Army. The army was made up of soldiers from acr...

18 Aug 10min

Asha Bhosle: The world's most recorded artist

In 2011 Asha Bhosle, India’s queen of melody, was officially named the most recorded artist in music history. The Guinness World Record recognised the astonishing scale of her career, having performed...

17 Aug 10min

The tortoise and the hippo

When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck the coast of Kenya, a baby hippo named Owen was swept out to sea and separated from his family.After being rescued, he was taken to Haller Park in Mombasa, wh...

14 Aug 10min

Kenya's power-sharing deal

In 2008, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga signed an unprecedented power-sharing deal to end a wave of violence that had left more than 1,200 people dead.Kibaki would remain pres...

13 Aug 10min

The last of the Mau Mau fighters

In 1963, as Kenya celebrated independence from British rule, one of the last Mau Mau fighters came out of hiding and laid down her arms. Muthoni Kirima was the first and only woman to be appointed fie...

12 Aug 10min