On Sunday afternoon, the Bishop of Townsville received the anonymous text message he had been waiting for for nearly two decades: “Wheels up, a. Bali 5 are returning to Australia”.
Timothy Harris, who provided pastoral care to the families of Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj after he was arrested in 2005, immediately called Scott’s father, Lee. A short time later, the plane carrying his son landed in the Northern Territory.
“A lost son comes home,” Harris said.
“Of course they are excited, but they know that a lot of work is going to be done to provide for the second part of Scott’s life with dignity and without a lot of trouble.
“Every day of the last 20 years has been a nightmare for them.”
Rush, Czugaj, Matthew Norman, Si-Yi Chen and Martin Stephens returned to Australia after the Indonesian government agreed to commute their remaining life sentences for drug trafficking on humanitarian grounds.
He said the release on behalf of the five men and their families was “immensely welcome” to Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, and his government, as well as successive Australian foreign ministers who had advocated for their release.
The statement said the five men were “relieved and happy” to return to Australia and expected them to “contribute to reintegration into society”.
Harris, however, said that joining the Australian society would no longer be recognized as the most difficult.
“Everything is going on in the Northern Territory, I know a lot, to prepare for what’s coming to them,” Harris said.
“Health is going to be an issue. The human body just can’t take it. Being incarcerated like that has taken its toll for almost 20 years.
Prime minister; Anthony AlbaneseThe Australian government has confirmed that it supports their “rehabilitation and reintegration”. Five people were placed in temporary accommodation.
“After 19 years in an Indonesian prison, it was time to return home,” the Albanians said on Monday morning.
“A number of parents of these people agreed to speak yesterday. They are grateful that their children were able to return home.
“They committed a great crime, and rightly paid a heavy price for it. But it was time to come home.
Harris said some men had established personal relationships in Indonesia that would be difficult to leave. Matthew Norman and Martin Stephens have both married while in prison.
The conditions of repatriation state cannot return to Indonesia. It is not known whether the couple will be issued visas.
“Some heart will return to Indonesia,” said Harris. “I’m sure it’s a bit of an [emotional] the tug of war is being waged. The senses cannot be mixed. “
The opposition leader; Peter DuttonHe said he had spoken with the prime minister about repatriation and did not repeat earlier criticisms of the deal made by some opposition MPs.
“These men are not coming back as our country’s heroes,” Dutton said. “They were not in political captivity. They were convicted under the laws of the country who were operating in that country to try to import heroin.
“On a personal level and for their families, especially with Christmas coming up, you can understand the excitement and relief they will have.”
Indonesia’s senior minister for legal affairs, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who negotiated the repatriation with Australia’s domestic affairs minister, Tony Burke, said the transfer was “reciprocal in nature”.
“If at any time our government requests the transfer of Indonesian prisoners to Australia, the Australian government is also obliged to consider it,” he said in a statement.
But on Monday morning, when asked if “any payback arrangements are expected” as part of the deal with Indonesia, Albanese said “no”.
The Bali Nine They were charged and convicted of trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Indonesia in April 2005.
The leaders of the drug smuggling ring, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, were sentenced to death. execution by firing squad in Indonesia in 2015. Another member, Tan Duc Than Nguyen; died of cancer in 2018
The only female member of the group, Rena Lawrence, had that sentence was commuted in 2018 and returned to Australia.