By Zach Hope and Amilia Rosa
Jakarta/Bali: A senior Indonesian minister says the Philippines has agreed to the same prisoner transfer proposal submitted to Australia, setting an international precedent for how the remaining members of the Bali Nine may get home after almost 20 years in jail.
The purported agreement announced on Thursday means high-profile death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso will soon be transferred to the Philippines. She was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 and was supposed to be executed on the same day in 2015 as Bali Nine Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran but, unlike them, was granted a late reprieve.
The five remaining incarcerated members of the Bali Nine (from left) Martin Stephens, Si-Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Matthew Norman and Scott Rush.Credit: Composite: Nathan Perri
Speaking after a law conference in Bali on Thursday night (AEDT), Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra said it was President Prabowo Subianto’s hope the five Australian Bali Nine members still serving life sentences could be home before Christmas.
But it was first up to Australia to respond to the draft proposal – the details of which remained secret – that was given to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke at or before a meeting with Yusril in Jakarta on Tuesday. Yusril on Thursday said the document agreed to by the Philippines was the same that was given to Australia. It was not clear when the Philippines received it.
“This morning I have information from Philippines embassy in Jakarta that the Philippine government has agreed to the whole of the draft submitted to them,” he said.
This masthead also understands officials from Kerobokan Prison, where some of the Bali Five are being held, were preparing for a video meeting with Prabowo.
The Australian government had not provided a timeline on a response to the proposal, called Practical Arrangements on the Transfer of Prisoners, Yusril said. Burke’s office did not immediately respond to this masthead’s questions on Thursday night.
“If the Australian government needs …. some modifications or amendments we are ready to discuss,” Yusril said.
“If they already accept, the transfers of the Bali Nine are just a matter of time. President Prabowo Subianto said to me if possible we can transfer them this December and, specifically, [he] said to me, if possible before Christmas.”
Australians Scott Rush, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Martin Stephens and Si Yi Chen are serving life sentences after they were caught trying to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin out of Indonesia in 2005.
Mary Jane Veloso participating in a prison fashion parade.Credit: AFP
Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died from cancer in 2018 and Renae Lawrence was released the same year.
Yusril on Tuesday said Indonesia was not demanding anything in return if the five men were moved to Australia. But on Thursday he said Indonesia might need to call in the favour “in the future”.
“If the Indonesian government asks the Australian government to repatriate Indonesian prisoners in Australia, they have an obligation to consider it,” he said, discussing the proposal.
This could pose political and diplomatic headaches for this or future governments if the Indonesians ever requested the return of a citizen whose crimes and transfer were unpalatable to Australian voters.
Yusril said last month that he knew some illegal Indonesian fishermen had previously been imprisoned in Australia and that he was asking for current figures.
This masthead asked the Australian Border Force for a number, if one existed, but was denied.
Veloso, a domestic servant from a poor family, has been a significant story in the Philippines and her plight has been met with prayer sessions and candlelight vigils.
She was caught at Indonesia’s Yogyakarta airport with 2.6 kilograms of heroin sewn into her luggage while on a holiday she said was paid for by the person who had promised her a job in Malaysia.
Veloso and Filipino investigators say the drugs were hidden in the suitcase without her knowledge.
“We returned to our [Kuala Lumpur] hotel ... when we were inside the room I asked [Maria Cristina Sergio] why the bag was so heavy,” Veloso once wrote from prison.
“She said it was because it is brand new. I checked all the zipper and pockets of the bag. All were empty and I did not think that something was wrong with it.”
Her transfer will be a major political win for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, particularly the millions of citizens who work low paid jobs abroad and feel vulnerable to exploitation.
It was not clear whether Marcos would release her once she’s back in the Philippines.
Neither was it clear what Australia would do with the Bali Five. Yusril said Indonesia was not pardoning the prisoners, only transferring them, but he also acknowledged it was Australia’s right to do as it pleased once they had reached home shores.
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