The five men remaining members of the ‘Bali Nine’ who are serving life sentences in Indonesia could return to Australia, according to international news reports.
The five men are the remaining members of the ‘Bali Nine’ — a group of Australians convicted of attempting to smuggle over eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005.
An Indonesian Government representative told Reuters that the country’s President, Prabowo Subianto, has agreed to a prisoner exchange “in principle”.
Indonesian Law
Indonesia has some of the strictest penalties for drug offences in the world, including lengthy prison sentences and the death penalty. Human rights advocates have criticised the country over this issue.
Amnesty International states that “it is legitimate” for the Indonesian Government “to take appropriate law-enforcement measures against drug offenders”.
However, it argues that “there is no scientific evidence showing that the death penalty deters would-be traffickers more effectively than other punishments.’’
Bali Nine
In April 2005, nine Australian citizens were arrested while trying to smuggle heroin into Australia from Bali, Indonesia.
They were:
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the group’s leaders, Renae Lawrence, Martin Stephens, Scott Rush, Michael Czugaj, Si Yi Chen, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Matthew Norman.
Indonesian authorities arrested the group in Bali after receiving a tip-off from the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
At the time, Australian newspapers reported that the AFP told Indonesian police to “take whatever action you deem necessary”.
Five were arrested at Denpasar Airport in Bali, four of whom had heroin strapped to their bodies. The remaining four were arrested at a Bali hotel.
The arrest of the Bali Nine came six months after authorities detained Australian woman Schapelle Corby at Denpasar Airport in 2004.
The 30-year-old was found with more than 4kg of marijuana inside a boogie board bag when she arrived in Indonesia. Corby denies the drugs were hers.
The Australian avoided the death penalty but was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 2005. She was granted parole and released in 2014, before returning to Australia in 2017.
Sentencing
Separate trials for the group members began in October 2005.
Chan and Sukumaran were found guilty of organising the attempted smuggling, and were sentenced to death. The other seven were sentenced to life in prison.
Chan and Sukumaran were executed by firing squad in 2015, despite efforts by their lawyers and the Australian Government to intervene.
Then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the execution “cruel and unnecessary.”
No Australian jurisdiction has had the death penalty since 1985. In 2010, the Federal Parliament passed a law prohibiting the death penalty from ever being re-introduced.
Nguyen died of cancer in 2018. Lawrence, whose sentence had been reduced, was freed that same year.
The other five remain in jail.
Negotiations
On Saturday, both international and Australian media reported the five men could be returned to Australia.
Trade Minister Don Farrell told Sky News on Sunday that negotiations were “ongoing”.
“The proposal isn’t… to release these people, they would continue to serve their sentence, except they’re serving them in Australia,” Farrell said.
Opposition
The Coalition has criticised the Government for a lack of transparency surrounding the negotiations.
Speaking to Sky News, Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash asked why the Prime Minister hasn’t “stood up in front of the Australian people and explained exactly what he has done.”
“What’s the nature of the deal? Who’s paying for it? What’s Australia giving up?”
