The final five members of the notorious Bali Nine drug smuggling ring—Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, and Martin Stephens—have returned to Australia after serving nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons.
Their release, facilitated through a confidential arrangement with the Indonesian government, does not constitute a clemency deal, as Australia lacks a prisoner transfer agreement with Indonesia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, alongside Ministers Penny Wong and Tony Burke, thanked Indonesia for its cooperation.
The men, who attempted to smuggle 8.3 kg of heroin from Bali in 2005, will now focus on rehabilitation and reintegration in Australia.
In some countries, these young men would have been executed. Except for their families, It should not be a hero’s welcome.
Little sympathy for this lot. Drugs destroy peoples live, look no further than CONVID to see that…..
They all worked at a factory and were offered a free holiday in Bali, on the day of their return they were ambushed by the ringleaders, since executed, and had the contraband taped to their bodies, they were dupes but must have known that free doesn’t mean free, anyway after serving 19 years they would probably prefer to stay in Bali as the transition to modern Australia now would be something like the transition to a Balinese jail then, this won’t end well.