Almost 20 years since they were caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia, the five remaining members of the Bali Nine have touched down on Australian soil.
Australians Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens and Si Yi Chen will live freely in the community after the federal government secured a deal for their release with Indonesia.
This is what we know about the five men, the crimes that landed them in prison, their friends who didn’t make it home and the sensitive negotiations that finally got them here.
The five remaining members of the Bali Nine (from left) Martin Stephens, Si-Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Matthew Norman and Scott Rush.Credit: Composite: Nathan Perri
Who were the Bali Nine?
In April 2005, Indonesian authorities arrested Rush, Czugaj, Stephens and Renae Lawrence (the group’s only female member) at Bali’s Denpasar Airport. Between them, they were carrying 8.3 kilograms of heroin in plastic bags.
Andrew Chan, one of two alleged ringleaders, was removed from a flight departing Denpasar for Australia. Myuran Sukumaran, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Chen and Norman were arrested at a hotel at Kuta Beach with 300 grams of heroin, bundles of plastic wrapping and scales.
During their high-profile trial, prosecutors said ringleaders Sukumaran (24) and Chan (21) had personally strapped the heroin to the bodies of the four couriers – aged between 18 and 28 at the time of their arrest.
How were they caught?
Two weeks before the arrest, the Australian Federal Police gave their Indonesian counterparts the names of eight Australians they believed had flown to Bali to smuggle heroin back here. They named Chan as the ringleader and told the Indonesians: “If you suspect Chan and/or the couriers are carrying drugs at the time of their departure, please take whatever action you deem necessary.”
Indonesian authorities tracked the group’s movements in Bali and arrested them at the airport.
Lee Rush, who told the AFP his son, Scott, was part of a drug plot before he flew to Bali, said he felt “very let down” by the failure of authorities to stop his son from leaving Australia.
“When I received a call from the Australian government authorities that Scott had been detained in Indonesia for attempting to export heroin, I was speechless, sickened to the gut,” he told the ABC’s Australian Story in 2006. “We tried to lawfully stop our son leaving the country, it wasn’t done.”
Who are the Bali Five?
Norman, from Quakers Hill in Sydney’s west, and Czugaj, a former glazier from Brisbane, will return home after spending more than half their lives in prison.
Stephens, from Wollongong, met Norman, Chan and Lawrence while working for a catering company in Sydney.
Chen is also from Sydney. His father reported him missing two weeks after he left home, initially believing his son was staying with friends.
What happened to the others?
Ringleaders Sukamaran and Chan died by firing squad in 2015 after years of failed appeals.
Nguyen died in May 2018 from stomach cancer. Later that year, Lawrence had her sentence commuted for good behaviour and she was then deported to Australia.
How were they released?
Australian ministers said little about the men’s pending release after news broke in November that the federal government was negotiating for them to be returned to Australia by Christmas. Albanese had directly raised their cases with Prabowo on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Peru earlier that month.
The prime minister had also privately lobbied Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, to secure the men’s freedom.
While Widodo was in power, officials had been advocating for the men’s prison sentences in Indonesia to be reduced. That approach changed when Prabowo was elected in March because he was willing to transfer the men to Australia.
Where does Schapelle Corby fit in?
When another Australian caught with drugs in Indonesia, Schapelle Corby, was released in 2014, then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono faced domestic criticism accusing him of being soft on drugs and too pro-West.
Watching Corby leave Kerobokan prison in a limousine provided by an Australian TV network (Seven) made the Indonesian public even more furious. Some said Corby had made a fool of their president, and ridiculed Indonesian law and sovereignty.
Schapelle Corby at Bali's Magistrates Court.Credit: Jason South
The attempt to bring the remaining five members of the Bali Nine home was fraught with similar political risks for Prabowo. One firebrand international law professor said of the potential deal: “Our sovereignty is being ripped [to shreds].”
Despite the potential domestic backlash, the deal was struck in time for Christmas. Indonesian Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra has previously said his government would respect Australia’s decision to grant the men freedom once they arrived home, but they would never be able to set foot in Indonesia again.
What happens next?
Australian officials were tight-lipped about the men’s location on Sunday night.
The five have agreed to continue rehabilitation in Australia as part of sensitive negotiations between Australia and Indonesia, which were facilitated by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s willingness to transfer them home on humanitarian grounds.
They will serve no further jail time and live in short-term accommodation facilitated by the government while they settle back into life in the community, with access to medical help and support services.
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