The Bali Nine drug traffickers are back in Australia to continue what the prime minister has called their “rehabilitation and reintegration”.
According to 7 News Australia, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen and Michael Czugaj arrived in Australia from Indonesia on Sunday with their future custodial status unclear after the federal government reached a deal with Indonesian authorities.
Indonesia’s government said the five were transferred from Bali with the status of prisoner on Sunday morning and landed in Darwin.
“They will now have the opportunity to continue their personal rehabilitation and reintegration here in Australia,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement on Sunday.
The repatriated Australians were among nine arrested in 2005 after trying to smuggle heroin and had been behind bars serving life sentences in Bali.
Albanese said their return “on humanitarian grounds” reflected Australia’s strong bilateral relationship with Indonesia.
He said he had thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto “for his act of compassion”.
“Australia respects Indonesia’s sovereignty and legal processes and we appreciate Indonesia’s compassionate consideration of this matter,” he said.
Indonesia’s senior minister for legal affairs, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, said the transfer was “reciprocal in nature”.
“If one day our government requests the transfer of Indonesian prisoners in Australia, the Australian government is also obliged to consider it,” he said.
The five are banned for life from entering Indonesia, Yusril said in a statement.
Indonesia has said it would respect any decision by Australia when the prisoners returned home, including whether to grant pardons.
Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in 2015, sparking a diplomatic incident with Australia, while Renae Lawrence was released in 2018 and Tan Duc Than Nguyen died of cancer the same year.