Diplomacy at work as remaining Bali Nine returned home

Tireless diplomatic efforts over many years have come to fruition, with the remaining five members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring returning to Australia after two decades in Indonesian prisons.

Anthony Albanese announced their return in a statement on Sunday (15 December) once the men were back on Australian soil.

They had been serving life sentences.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the seriousness of the men’s offences but said it was “time for them to come home” after more than 19 years in jail in Indonesia.

He had met with his Indonesian counterpart President Prabowo Subianto on the sidelines of APEC in Peru last month to discuss the return of the five, with Prabowo keen to accommodate the transition.

“I am pleased to confirm that Australian citizens Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj have returned to Australia this afternoon,” Mr Albanese said in a statement on Sunday.

“I want to express my gratitude to President Prabowo for Indonesia’s cooperation and commitment to working with Australia on this matter.

“I have conveyed my personal appreciation to President Prabowo for his act of compassion.

“The five men have been returned to Australia under an arrangement agreed between our two countries.

“Australia respects Indonesia’s sovereignty and legal processes, and we appreciate Indonesia’s compassionate consideration of this matter.

“The five men committed serious offences. Australia shares Indonesia’s concern about the serious problem illicit drugs represent.

“The government will continue to cooperate with Indonesia to counter narcotics trafficking and transnational crime.

“These Australians served more than 19 years in prison in Indonesia. It was time for them to come home.

“The Australian Government has consistently provided consular support to these men and to their families.

“They will now have the opportunity to continue their personal rehabilitation and reintegration here in Australia.

“This outcome reflects the very strong relationship that exists between Indonesia and Australia.

“We ask that the media respect the privacy of the men and their families at this time.”

Successive Australian governments have lobbied Indonesia on behalf of the Bali Nine since they were caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Bali in 2005.

Controversially, Australian Federal Police had tipped off Indonesian authorities while the nine were still in Bali, allowing the arrests to be made on foreign soil where the death penalty was a possible punishment.

The two ringleaders of the Bali Nine smuggling plot, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were indeed executed in 2015, despite Australia’s strong protests.

Another member of the nine, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, died of cancer in 2018.

Renae Lawrence, also one of the nine, was sentenced to 20 years in prison but had her sentence commuted in 2018.

The men who returned home on Sunday arrived in Darwin on a commercial Jetstar flight from Bali and were provided temporary accommodation.

Once resettled, they will be able to live normal and free lives, despite Indonesia’s Law Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra stressing that they had not been granted clemency, but had been sent home as prisoners.

They will not, however, be able to ever return to Indonesia.

A statement was released on behalf of the five men and their families after they had returned to Australia.

It expressed the men’s relief and joy to be back home.

“The men and their families are immensely grateful to President Prabowo and the Indonesian government for allowing them to return to Australia, and sincerely thank them,” the statement said.

“Over the years of their imprisonment, successive Australian foreign ministers and governments have advocated for the men. The men and their families sincerely thank them.

“The men and their families thank all those who have assisted them to reach this point.

“In particular, they thank their Indonesian lawyers, friends in Indonesia, academics and others in Australia, and numerous friends in Australia. This support has been essential and invaluable.”