Bali Nine reunited with family in time for Christmas
Five members of the Bali Nine have been released from custody to spend Christmas with their families for the first time in 20 years.
Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen and Michael Czugaj – all now aged in their late 30s or 40s – spent two decades locked in Bali’s Kerobokan Prison after being found guilty of attempting to traffic heroin.
The men finally returned to Australia on “humanitarian grounds” last Sunday, under a deal brokered with the Indonesian government.
Late on Thursday, they arrived at Darwin airport in separate groups and accompanied by Australian Federal Police to board planes home to meet family.
Early on Friday, Norman, the youngest member of the convicted drug smugglers, arrived in Melbourne to meet his father. Originally from western Sydney, he will reportedly live in Torquay, south of Melbourne.
Chen was on the same flight into Melbourne.
In Brisbane, there were similar emotional scenes as Czugaj was reunited with his family.
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Rush also flew into Brisbane, while Stephens was on a flight to Sydney.
Pictures carried by The Australian and the Seven Network showed some of the arrivals. None of the men spoke to waiting media.
The five Bali Nine men had spent four days in the Howard Springs federal accommodation facility near Darwin, after arriving from Indonesia.
Thursday’s flights to other state capitals draws an end to the saga that up-ended the five men’s lives and tested Australia’s diplomatic relations with its northern neighbour.
"Bali Nine members seen for the first time in return to their home states with AFP escorts"
"The five released members of the Bali Nine drug-smuggling ring have arrived in their home states, where they will rebuild the lives they destroyed almost two decades ago."
"As the top secret… pic.twitter.com/7jE0ueRIdP"
"— Liam Mendes (@liammendes) December 19, 2024"
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Indonesia has some of the world’s strictest drug laws and sparked a diplomatic incident when Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad in 2015.
Of the remaining members, the only woman, Renae Lawrence, was released in 2018, while Tan Duc Than Nguyen died of cancer the same year.
Previous attempts to free the remaining Bali Nine members had failed to gain traction but the accession to power of President Prabowo Subianto in October renewed hope for their release.
The Australian government finally struck a deal with their Indonesian counterparts earlier in December. Indonesia’s senior minister for legal affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said it was “reciprocal in nature”.
Australian ministers have denied a quid pro quo agreement that would force the government to consider freeing Indonesian prisoners in Australia in the future.
“We would like to convey our deep appreciation to the government of Indonesia for its co-operation to facilitate the men’s return to Australia on humanitarian grounds,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a joint statement on Sunday.
“This reflects the strong bilateral relationship and mutual respect between Indonesia and Australia.”
The five men, who have not been pardoned, are banned from entering Indonesia for life.
-with AAP
