REMEMBERING the " BALI NINE " !

In April of 2005 nine young Australians disastrously tried their hand at drug importation from Indonesia.  They travelled to Bali with the intention of buying Heroin, strapping it tightly to their bodies and simply walking through both Indonesian and Australian customs undetected.

Their security was lax because the scheme became known to the Australian Federal police who tipped off the Indonesian police, who stopped some members as they passed through the airport, arrested others as they waited in their hotel with Heroin and plans to catch a later flight and caught the two ringleaders as they were planning to leave Bali.

All nine were put on trial and in Indonesia trafficking Heroin is an offence punished by either the death penalty or a life prison sentence.  Martin Scott, Rush Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugas, Martin Stephenson  and Tan Duc Nguyen were found guilty and sentenced to prison for life.   The only woman in the gang, Renae Lawrence had her life sentence reduced to twenty years after an appeal.

The two deemed to be the ringleaders of this smuggling plot, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were sentenced to death and executed by firing squad.  Twelve years into her sentence, Renae Lawrence had her sentence mercifully curtailed and she was released and deported back to Australia. She has since consistently campaigned for the release of the remaining five who remain in Indonesian prisons.  Tan Duc Nguyen died of stomach cancer in 2018.

This Bali Nine saga has been controversial.  Why the Federal police chose to involve Indonesia remains a mystery  Had they waited and arrested the Bali Nine at an Australian airport they would have been subjected to Australian law penalties.  The smuggling attempt involved about eight kilo's of Heroin, valued at that time at four million dollars.  Had they been sentenced here in Australia they would probably be nearing release about now.

Renae Lawrence is asking prime minister Scott Morrison to intercede with the Indonesian president, who is currently visiting Australia.   The best she can hope for would be a prisoner swap in which the Bali Nine would serve their time here in an Australian prison.  It is not suggested that the term be shortened, just that the families would be spared the expense of travelling to Indonesia to visit their children and the prisoners would be subjected to Australian values in their cuisine and the newspapers they read and television they watch.  An equal number of Indonesians in Australian prisons would be shipped home to complete their sentence in their home country.

Drug sentencing is a sensitive political issue in Indonesia and this would need to be handled carefully.  Indonesia would expect these prisoners to eventually die in an Australian prison and that would not sit well with the prison reform movement here, but as things stand there is little likelihood  of that life sentence gaining remission in Indonesia.  With the Indonesian president on Australian soil, this is probably an ideal time to ask for this concession.

Unfortunately the Bali Nine acted with youthful bravado and were dismissive of the risks involved.  The outcome has been tragic, for them and their families.   The only remaining hope is they can be spared eventual death in a foreign jail if this repatriation deal can be arranged.