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Nine Australians. More than eight kilograms of heroin. Street value $4 million.
Who are the Bali Nine?
In April 2005, nine Australians were caught trying to smuggle more than 8.3 kg of heroin from Indonesia.
Those Australians were Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens and Renae Lawrence.
Under the leadership of ringleaders Chan and Sukumaran, the group planned to smuggle the drug into Australia where it would be worth about $4 million.
Instead, Indonesian police supported by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) detained and arrested the nine involved before they even left Indonesian soil.
How was the Bali Nine caught?
AFP suspected that Sukumaran, Chan, Lawrence and Norman were involved in international drug trafficking before they traveled to Bali in April 2005.
The four were believed to be part of a larger syndicate that smuggled a large amount of heroin from Indonesia to Australia in 2004, so AFP watched when they traveled to Indonesia again in 2005.
He alerted Indonesian police to the group’s presence in Bali and shared key details about the individuals involved, including their names, passport numbers and possible links to the illegal drug trade.
Indonesian police began tracking the group and continued surveillance for a week before arresting them on April 17, 2005.
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The six were arrested at Denpasar Airport after Stephens, Lawrence, Rush and Czugaj were discovered with packages of heroin strapped to their bodies.
Chan and Sukumaran were also arrested there in connection with drugs, although neither was found with drugs.
The remaining three – Chen, Nguyen and Norman – were arrested at the Maslati Hotel on Kuta Beach with about 300 grams of heroin in their possession.
Not long after the news broke in Australia, the group was dubbed the ‘Bali Nine’.
What happened to the Bali Nine?
The trials of the nine Australians began in Indonesia over four consecutive days in October 2005.
Denpasar District Court sentenced the seven to life imprisonment: Lawrence, Rush, Czugaj, Stephens, Norman, Chen and Nguyen.
In a shocking move, ringleaders Chan and Sukumaran were sentenced to death by firing squad.
It was the first time in recorded history that the Denpasar District Court handed down death sentences for drug trafficking and shocked the world.
All members of the Bali Nine appealed their sentences and while some who received life sentences were reduced, others faced a much more dire outcome.
Lawrence successfully appealed to have her life sentence reduced to 20 years.
Czugaj successfully appealed to have his sentence reduced from 20 years in prison, but it was overturned and he was re-sentenced to life.
Chen and Norman appealed and had their life sentences reduced to 20 years, only to have those convictions overturned and the death penalty imposed.
Rush and Nguyen also appealed for reduced life sentences and were sentenced to death instead.
In March 2008, it was revealed that the sentences of Norman, Chen and Nguyen had been quietly reduced to life imprisonment. A few months later, Rush’s death sentence was also commuted to life in prison.
Chan and Sukumaran appealed to have their death sentences commuted and, when those appeals were rejected, pleaded for clemency. Both were rejected.
How many of the Bali Nine were executed?
Two ringleaders of the Bali Nine, Sukumaran and Chan, were executed in 2015.
The executions continued despite multiple attempts by Sukumaran and Chan to appeal their sentences, requests for judicial review and requests for clemency by both.
Then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott also directly appealed to then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo to stop the executions.
“We oppose the death penalty for Australians at home and abroad,” he said in January 2015.
“Obviously we respect the legal systems of other countries, but where there is an attempt to impose the death penalty on an Australian, we make the strongest possible diplomatic representations.”
The executions were postponed and put on hold several times while ways were explored to save Sukumaran and Chan, but were finally carried out just over 10 years after they were arrested.
Two men were executed by firing squad in a prison on Nusakambangan Island in Central Java on April 29, 2015.
At the time of writing, five of the Bali Nine are still in prison in Indonesia.
Lawrence was released in November 2018 after serving nearly 13 years in prison. Her sentence was reduced for good behavior and she was deported to Australia.
Nguyen died in prison in May 2018 of stomach cancer.
The remaining five members of the Bali Nine – Chen, Czugaj, Norman, Rush and Stephens – are still serving their sentences in Indonesian prisons, but that could soon change.
Will Bali Nine ever be released?
A private conversation between the Albanians and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the G20 summit, as well as “consistent advocacy” by the Albanian government, may have secured their return.
“I can confirm that the Albanian government has consistently advocated for the Bali Nine cases, which included discussions with former President Widodo and President Prabow,” Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said.
It is understood the federal government is waiting for the Indonesian government to make an official announcement before confirming details of the deal.
If all goes according to plan, they could be back on Australian soil before Christmas. He is expected to serve the remainder of his sentence here.
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