ABOUT US
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DIRECTOR
Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert
Kylie is a committed advocate for Australians wrongfully detained abroad, including victims of state hostage-taking. Kylie was imprisoned in Iran in 2018 on fabricated charges of ‘espionage,’ having been arrested by the Revolutionary Guards Corps after attending an academic conference. Kylie ultimately served 2 years and 3 months of a 10 year sentence, before being traded in a prisoner swap deal in 2020.
A writer and academic, Kylie published a memoir in 2022 titled The Uncaged Sky, drawing on her own lived experience to examine the phenomenon of wrongful detention.
Kylie is currently a Visiting Fellow at the University of Sydney’s Centre for International Security Studies.
Twitter/X: @KMooreGilbert
Instagram: @kyliemooregilbert
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FOUNDING MEMBER
Prof. Sean Turnell
Prof. Sean Turnell has been a senior economic analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia, a Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Lowy Institute, Sydney.
From 2016 to 2021 Sean served as economic adviser to Myanmar’s democratic government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Following the military coup that took place in Myanmar in February 2021, Sean was imprisoned alongside Myanmar’s democratic leadership. After 650 days of incarceration and severe ill-treatment, he was finally released in November 2022.
Sean has written extensively on macroeconomic policymaking, economic reform, and the role of financial institutions in economic development, with a special focus on Australia, Myanmar, and the Indo-Pacific. His memoir, titled An Unlikely Prisoner, was published in November 2023.
Twitter/X: @TurnellSean
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FOUNDING MEMBER
Cheng Lei
Cheng Lei is an Australian-Chinese journalist recently freed from over three years’ detention in China on bogus espionage charges. She has worked in China for twenty years in business journalism and prior to that was an accountant in Melbourne.
Following her release in 2023 Lei joined Sky News Australia as a columnist and presenter. In recognition of her resilience and bravery, she was awarded the 2024 The Australian’s Australian of the Year award.
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FOUNDING MEMBER
Nick Coyle
Nick Coyle is the former head of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce and is the partner of Cheng Lei, the Australian journalist wrongfully detained in China from 2020- 2023.
Cheng Lei’s arrest, amidst rising Australia-China political tensions, drew international concern and condemnation, with Lei widely regarded as a victim of the breakdown in diplomatic relations. Nick Coyle spearheaded the public campaign for Lei’s release, and also acted as a key liaison with DFAT and the Australian embassy in Beijing as they pushed for Lei’s freedom.
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MEMBER
Luke Cook
Luke Cook was falsely accused of drug trafficking in Thailand in 2017, and was initially sentenced to death in a deeply flawed trial. After spending more than four years in a Thai prison, Thailand's Supreme Court ultimately exonerated Luke and he was freed and allowed to return to Australia.
Luke has since become an outspoken advocate against the death penalty, including on behalf of the Capital Punishment Justice Project.
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MEMBER
James Ricketson
James is an Australian filmmaker who spent 15 months in prison in Cambodia under false espionage charges.
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ADVISOR
Dan Mori
Lieutenant Colonel USMC (Retired) Dan Mori is the founder of the not-for-profit Australians Detained Abroad, which provides support to Australian families who have loved ones detained overseas.
After graduating from the Western New England School of Law in 1994 Dan had a long career serving as a defence counsel, Military Justice Officer and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the United States Marine Corps.
In 2003 Dan was appointed by the U.S Department of Defence to represent Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks. In 2007 he was awarded an honorary membership of the Australian Bar Association in recognition of his work defending Hicks and in 2009 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and made a senior military judge.
Dan has lived in Melbourne and was appointed a special senior fellow at the Monash University Faculty of Law.
www.australiansdetainedabroad.org
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ADVISOR
Abigael Mawby
Abbey commenced her legal career with a top tier New York law firm practicing private international law, and has gone on to practice public international law through work for the United Nations, focusing primarily on the Middle East. She currently works as a legal advisor for UNRWA in East Jerusalem, and has also worked for the anti-corruption division of the UNODC in Tehran.
In parallel, Abbey aids victims of international crimes in seeking accountability, including providing legal counsel to Yazidi survivors of genocide alongside Amal Clooney's legal team.
Abbey is admitted as an attorney in New York, and holds legal qualifications from both the University of Queensland (Hons I) and Columbia Law School, where she was both a James Kent Scholar and a John Monash Scholar. -
ADVISOR
Alison Battisson
Alison is a human rights lawyer specialising in unlawful detention. Alison founded Human Rights for All, which represents refugees, stateless and indigenous people in immigration prisons on a pro bono basis. Alison has also worked as a corporate lawyer for top tier firms in Australia, the UK and Indonesia, as well as with various volunteer organisations in Zimbabwe, Australia and the UK.
Alison has a Bachelor of Law (Hons) from the University of Sydney, a Bachelors of Asian Studies and Arts from the Australian National University, a Post Graduate Certificate in Law from the University of London and a Masters of Law (Human Rights and Social Justice) from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).www.hr4a.com.au
PARTNER ORGANISATIONS
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AUSTRALIANS DETAINED ABROAD
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HOSTAGE AID WORLDWIDE
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