Indonesia ready to send Bali Nine drug case prisoners back to Australia
Indonesia plans to transfer five Australian prisoners from the well-known Bali Nine case back home. The move comes after high-level talks between both countries leaders at recent APEC meeting
In a fresh development indonesias government has agreed to send back five remaining members of the Bali Nine group to their home-country (these Australians got life sentences almost two decades ago for drug-smuggling)
The law-minister Supratman Andi Agtas told about this decision which came after Anthony Albanese australias prime-minister talked with indonesian president at APEC; the deal includes a two-way exchange where Indonesia wants its citizens back from australian prisons
This is the presidents discretion but in principle the president has agreed on humanitarian grounds
The well-known Bali Nine case started when authorities caught nine Australians trying to move heroin from resort island in 05. Since then:
- One person left prison bout 6 years ago
- Another member died from cancer that same year
- Two main organizers faced firing squad 9 years ago
- Five others still serve life terms
The previous executions made things difficult between both countries - australia even called back its ambassador. Now Indonesia says it will work fast on transfers but needs other countries to accept its court decisions; this also helps them get their own people back from foreign jails
A similar move happened with Mary Jane Veloso from Philippines who got death row sentence - shes going home too. France also wants its citizen transferred which shows indonesias new open-minded way of handling international prisoner cases
