The parents of the surviving Bali Nine members are “quietly hopeful” their children will be repatriated to Australia in a deal with the Indonesian government, according to a pastor who has been in close contact with them for 20 years.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, raised their repatriation during a meeting with the Indonesian president, Prabowo Subianto, on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Peru last week. Senior Australian ministers have confirmed negotiations between the two nations are ongoing.
Indonesia’s law minister, Supratman Andi Agtas, told the Reuters news agency on Saturday the Indonesian government had agreed to the extradition, although there has been no official announcement.
“This is the president’s discretion, but in principle, the president has agreed on humanitarian grounds,” Supratman said.
The Australians were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the Indonesian resort island. The remaining members, who remain in Bali serving life sentences, are Scott Rush, Matthew Norman, Si-Yi Chen, Martin Stephens, and Michael Czugaj.
The bishop of Townsville, Timothy Harris, has provided pastoral care to the Rush and Czugaj families since their arrest. He has also visited both men in Bali’s notorious Kerebokan prison.
“It is fantastic news, if true,” Harris said. “But I am being very cautious.
“I am very grateful for conversations that have taken place between the Australian prime minister and the president of Indonesia. I think those two men need to be congratulated and credit given where it is due.”
Harris said he has spoke with Rush’s father, Lee, in recent days and he believed the family has not yet received any official confirmation of a deal. He was wary of hard-line Indonesian politicians seeking to stop the repatriation.
“Scott’s parents are salt-of-the-earth people,” Harris said. “They have been through hell and I think they are quietly hopeful they will get their son home.”
“After 20 years, how much more can a person take? There comes a time where it is better to bring them home.”
Harris stressed that he and the Rush family wanted the Indonesian justice system to be respected.
Under the deal, Jakarta would seek the repatriation of Indonesian prisoners held in Australia, Supratman said.
Jakarta has no set procedures regarding international prisoner transfers but would work on the matter as soon as possible, he said, stressing the counterpart country must recognise Indonesia’s judicial process.
“This is important to maintain a good relationship with friendly countries, but this is also in our interest because we have prisoners abroad,” Supratman said.
On Sunday, the trade minister, Don Farrell, said the five men would continue to serve their sentences in Australia if the deal went through.
“The proposal isn’t, as I understand it, to release these people,” he told Sky News. “They would continue to serve their sentence, except they’re serving them in Australia.”
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The shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, said the prime minister should provide Australians with more information about the deal. She did not say whether the opposition backed the reported deal.
“Let’s be clear, in the first instance, these individuals … were part of a heroin-smuggling ring to bring back into Australia in excess of 8kg of heroin,” she told Sky News on Sunday.
“Drug offences are some of the worst offences our society sees because of the devastating consequences on people, including death.”
She called on the prime minister to confirm how the deal had been brokered, whether there would be a cost to the taxpayer, and whether the men would continue to serve their full prison sentences in Australia.
“And if not, why not?” she said.
Another member of the nine, Renae Lawrence, was released from prison in 2018, while Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died of cancer the same year.
The execution in 2015 of two of the group’s ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, caused a diplomatic rupture between Australia and Indonesia.
Australia recalled its ambassador in protest.
– with Reuters