Talks are under way to return members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring to Australia, the federal trade minister has confirmed while asserting they would continue to serve their sentences and not be released.
The Australians were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the Indonesian resort island.
Five remaining members have been serving life sentences in the country for their involvement.
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Trade Minister Don Farrell said discussions were ongoing but confirmed the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had advocated on behalf of the Australians.
The prisoners would continue to serve their sentences in Australia under the proposal, he told Sky News on Sunday.
“The proposal isn’t, as I understand it, to release these people,” Senator Farrell said.
“They would continue to serve their sentence, except they’re serving them in Australia.”
Albanese raised the prisoner issue during a meeting with Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Peru, Australian Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones told reporters on Saturday.
Under the deal, Jakarta would seek the repatriation of Indonesian prisoners held in Australia, the country’s Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas told Reuters on Saturday.
Jakarta has no set procedures regarding international prisoner transfers but would work on the matter as soon as possible, Supratman said, stressing the counterpart country must recognise Indonesia’s judicial process.
“This is important to maintain a good relationship with friendly countries but this is also in our interest because we have prisoners abroad,” he said.
Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash urged the prime minister to provide Australians with more information about the deal.
“Let’s be clear, in the first instance, these individuals, Australians, were part of a heroin-smuggling ring to bring back into Australia, in excess of eight kilos of heroin,” she told Sky News on Sunday.
“Drug offences are some of the worst offences our society sees because of the devastating consequences on people, including death.”
She called on the prime minister to confirm how the deal had been brokered, whether there would be a cost to the taxpayer, and whether they would continue to serve their full prison sentences in Australia.
“And if not, why not?” she said.
Bali Nine members Scott Rush, Matthew Norman, Si-Yi Chen, Martin Stephens and Michael Czugaj are serving life sentences in Indonesia for their involvement.
Another member of the nine, Renae Lawrence, was released from prison in 2018 while Tan Duc Than Nguyen died of cancer the same year.
The execution of two of the group’s ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, in 2015 caused a diplomatic rupture between Australia and Indonesia.
Australia recalled its ambassador in protest.
with Reuters