5 Australians serving life sentences for drugs in Indonesia could soon return home

The remaining five Australians from the Bali Nine group who are serving life sentences for drug smuggling in Indonesia could be repatriated home this month as Indonesia and Australia put finishing touches on a draft proposal for their transfer

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The remaining five Australians from the Bali Nine group who are serving life sentences for drug smuggling in Indonesia could be repatriated home this month as Indonesia and Australia put finishing touches on a draft proposal for their transfer, Indonesia's senior law minister said Tuesday.

The Indonesian government is awaiting Australia's response to key points related to the transfer arrangements, including provisions requiring Australia to acknowledge Indonesia’s sovereignty, respect the rulings of Indonesian courts and ensure that the five maintain their prisoner status after returning home, Yusril Ihza Mahendra told reporters.

“I hope that we can find an understanding on that, agreed on the draft. And we hope that we can finalize these matters in December,” Mahendra said after meeting Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in Jakarta.

Burke said the proposal "is a significant step forward and shows significant goodwill. We now need to work through the issues within each country and we’ll we will be doing that without delay.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last month appealed to Indonesia's new President Prabowo Subianto to allow their repatriation.

Two convicted ringleaders of the Bali Nine, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by a firing squad in 2015, causing a diplomatic furor between neighbors Indonesia and Australia. Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died from cancer in prison in May.

The nine were arrested in an attempt to smuggle 8.3 kilograms (18.3 pounds) of heroin from Indonesia’s resort island of Bali to Australia in 2005,

The five are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Renae Lawrence, the only woman in the group, was released and returned to Australia in 2018.

Of the five, Si Yi Chen and Matthew Norman are held in Bali’s Kerobokan Prison, while the others have been transferred to facilities elsewhere.

For years, they have sought clemency ahead of Indonesia’s Independence Day. Each request has gone unanswered, underscoring the country’s hard line stance on drug offenses.

Last month, Indonesia agreed to repatriate to the Philippines a death-row drug convict who was nearly executed by firing squad but got a reprieve due to years of pleadings from Manila.

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Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk, in Melbourne, Australia, contributed to this report.