Indonesia will transfer several prisoners to their home countries. Those being transferred include death row drug convict Mary Jane Veloso and five members of the Bali Nine drug gang.
The government said no clemency was granted to the convicts. The convicts were handed over to their home countries through a process of transfer of prisoners.
President Prabowo Subianto and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are said to have reached an agreement to repatriate five members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling network to Australia. The five remaining members of the Bali Nine are serving life sentences in Indonesia.
Indonesian Minister of Law Supratman Andi Agtas said that his office is reviewing the transfer of five convicted drug smugglers from Australia who are members of the Bali Nine to their home country.
“The president has agreed in principle on humanitarian grounds,” Supratman told Reuters.
Supratman said that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has approved the transfer of foreign prisoners to their home countries in principle on humanitarian grounds and to maintain good relations with friendly countries.
Even so, he continued, until now, Indonesia does not have a fixed procedure regarding the transfer of international prisoners, but his party will work on the process as soon as possible.
Until now, the Indonesian Ministry of Law has received letters from ambassadors of friendly countries regarding transferring foreign prisoners to their home countries.
To date, the Ministry of Law (Kemenkum) RI has received letters from ambassadors of friendly countries regarding the transfer of foreign prisoners to their home countries.
He said he would show the letter requesting the transfer of the prisoners to the President of the Republic of Indonesia.
Who is the Bali Nine?
The group known as the Bali Nine consists of nine Australian citizens who were arrested in Bali in 2005. They were involved in a drug smuggling attempt with more than 8 kilograms of heroin.
The group came to international attention after their arrest by Indonesian authorities, and the legal process that ensued led to their various sentences, including the death penalty for some members of the group.
The nine convicts were found guilty of smuggling 8.2 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia. The nine convicts are Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Renae Lawrance, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, and Martin Stephens.
Andrew and Myuran were executed in 2015. Meanwhile, Renae was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was released in 2018 after receiving several remissions, while Tan Duc died in detention while serving a life sentence in 2018.
Now, there are only five inmates from the Bali Nine members who are still serving life imprisonment in Indonesia, namely Si Yi, Michael, Matthew, Scott, and Martin.
