Five remaining Bali Nine prisoners are sent to Australia

The five remaining prisoners of the infamous Bali Nine group will be sent from Indonesia to Australia next month.

Australians Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj are all serving life sentences in squalid Balinese prisons.

In 2005, she and four other Australians were arrested by Indonesian authorities when they tried to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin strapped to their bodies from the holiday island.

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died of cancer in 2018, while Renae Lawrence was released the same year after her life sentence was reduced to 20 years on appeal.

The drug plot’s masterminds, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by firing squad on Nusa Kambangan or ‘Prison Island’ in 2015.

On Friday, Coordinating Minister of Legal Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra said The Weekend Australia Anthony Albanese had requested that the prisoners be transferred to Australia.

“The President of Indonesia responded that they are currently assessing and processing the case, and this is expected to happen in December,” he said.

He added that Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had previously requested that “Australian citizens convicted of drug offenses and serving sentences in various prisons can be transferred to Australia.”

Australians Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, Scott Rush (pictured Rush in 2005) and Michael Czugaj are all serving life sentences in squalid Balinese prisons

Pictured from left to right are Bali Nine members Myuran Sukumaran, Scott Rush, Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, Renae Lawrence, and bottom row from left to right Si Yi Chen, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Martin Stephen and Andrew Chan

The arrest of the Bali Nine caused widespread controversy because the tip-off that they were carrying drugs came from the Australian Federal Police, who could have landed them in Australia where they would not have faced the death penalty.

Rush – whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2011 – moved to Karangasem prison in eastern Bali in early 2014.

In December 2019, Rush pledged to become an anti-drug activist in an emotional letter advocating for his life sentence to be reduced.

“I sincerely apologize to the government and citizens of Indonesia for the shameful impact my action has caused on the country of Indonesia and its people,” the letter said.

Bali Nine member Michael Czugaj is seen in 2006

The Queenslander said he would like to become an ‘anti-drug ambassador’ to make a positive contribution to society.

The impassioned letter came after photos were leaked in 2014 showing Rush smoking crack cocaine in Kerobokan prison.

Meanwhile, Lawrence, the only Bali Nine member to be released back into society, said she had struggled to find normality.

She had previously argued for a reduction in the sentences of the other five prisoners.

She said locking up the remaining five was “like a death sentence.”

“We all did something stupid, we all regret it, but everyone deserves a second chance,” Lawrence said in February 2020.

“If this doesn’t happen, they will have no hope, they will lose hope and the end will be devastating.”

Renae Lawrence is the only Bali Nine member to be released back into society