Five members of Bali Nine have returned home in after the federal government struck a deal with Indonesia
Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj flew back to on a commercial flight on Sunday in a top secret mission following weeks of negotiations between the two nations.
The five men won’t be required to serve prison sentences in and will be able to live freely in the community.
The development comes after n Prime Minister Anthony Albanese requested the transfer at a recent meeting with new Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto at the APEC Summit last month, who agreed to let the prisoners return home on humanitarian grounds.
The five men are believed to be staying at Howard Springs near Darwin, Nine News reported.
The Prime Minister has since confirmed the five men are home.
‘I am pleased to confirm that n citizens, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush and Martin Stephens have returned to this afternoon. I thank President Prabowo Subianto for his compassion,’ he wrote on X.
The five Aussies were arrested alongside Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen and Renae Lawrence in Bali in April 2005 as they attempted to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin strapped to their bodies from the holiday island.
Ringleaders Chan and Sukumaran were executed by firing squad in April 2015.
Stephen’s former cellmate Nguyen died from cancer in 2018, while Lawrence was released that year after her life sentence was reduced to 20 years on appeal.
The five Aussies will continue their rehabilitation in and will be provided with short-term accommodation, government support and medical care during their transition to living back in the community.
‘We would like to convey our deep appreciation to the government of Indonesia for its cooperation to facilitate the men’s return to on humanitarian grounds, a joint statement from Mr Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke read.
‘This reflects the strong bilateral relationship and mutual respect between Indonesia and .’
‘The men will have the opportunity to continue their personal rehabilitation and reintegration in .
‘We ask that the media respect the privacy of the men and their families at this time.’
Some of the men now have Indonesian families, who didn’t travel to with them.
Stephens previously said that he would ‘reject’ a prisoner exchange so he could remain close to his stepdaughter and wife Christine Puspayanti, whom he married while behind bars in 2011.
‘I’m much freer here than I would be in an n jail, though logically it would be better for my parents,’ Stephens said in his last interview in 2020.
‘I teach English and play the seruling (traditional bamboo flute) but I haven’t learned Indonesian. I want to keep my n identity and avoid getting involved in faction fighting,’ he told Indonesia Expat.
Ten months after their arrests, Chan and Sukumaran were sentenced to death by the firing squad while the remaining seven were handed life sentences.