Indonesia’s law minister has given fresh hope to family and friends of the remaining Bali Nine members in Kerobokan Prison, saying the transfer process is being finalised, and they could be released to Australia by December at the earliest.
“The president has agreed to the transfer process, but it should not be rushed because it concerns the mechanism,” Supratman Andi Agtas said.
“The process is just being finalised, we will do it in time, maybe December or the beginning of the year, I can’t be sure.
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“But in principle, the president agreed and we are preparing for it.”
The head of Bali’s prison system, Putu Murdiana, said his team is waiting to facilitate the prisoner swap to Australia.
Murdiana said they will “follow the direction and technical instruction from the government”.
Scott Rush, Matthew Norman, Si-Yi Chen, Martin Stephens, and Michael Czugaj are serving life sentences after they were found guilty of trying to import more than eight kilograms of heroin out of Bali in 2005.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese personally advocated on their behalf to Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Peru, according to Australian Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones.
A condition of the prisoner swap is that the inmates will have to serve out the rest of their sentences in Australian prisons, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell told Sky News on Sunday.
“The proposal isn’t, as I understand it, to release these people,” Farrell said.
“They would continue to serve their sentence, except they’re serving them in Australia.”
Under the deal, Jakarta would seek the repatriation of Indonesian prisoners held in Australia, Supratman Andi Agtas told Reuters on Saturday.
“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.
Jakarta has no set procedures regarding international prisoner transfers but would work on the matter as soon as possible, Supratman indicated.
Another member of the Bali Nine, Renae Lawrence, was released from prison in 2018 while Tan Duc Than Nguyen died of stomach cancer in prison the same year.
Two of the group’s ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed in 2015, causing a diplomatic rupture between Australia and Indonesia.