Yusril hopes to reach agreement soon on transfer of nine members from Bali to Australia - Politics

There is still much to discuss on the repatriation of the five remaining members of the ‘Bali Nine’ drug ring to Australia and we hope an agreement can be reached soon, Legal Affairs Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra has said.

The announcement was made after the minister met Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in Jakarta on Tuesday.

“I hope we can reach an agreement,” Yusril said, adding that he hoped to resolve the issue this month.

Indonesia has no regulations regarding the transfer of prisoners, but the agreement was initiated by the good intentions of President Prabowo Subianto, Yusril said.

Yusril said Indonesia would respect any decision made by the prisoners’ country of origin, including an amnesty, adding that it was a transfer of prisoners and not an exchange.

Last month, Justice Minister Supratman Andi Agtas said Indonesia had agreed in principle to transfer the five prisoners, who are currently serving life sentences, after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised the issue with Prabowo .

Supratman had said Jakarta was seeking the repatriation of Indonesian prisoners held in Australia as part of the deal.

The Bali Nine were arrested in 2005 while trying to smuggle heroin out of the Indonesian resort island.

Two of the group’s ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed in 2015 and Australia recalled its ambassador in protest.

One of the members was released from prison in 2018 and another died of cancer the same year.

Last month, the government agreed to repatriate Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina sentenced to death for drug trafficking, to serve the remainder of her sentence in her home country.

France also requested the repatriation of a prisoner from Indonesia, Supratman said last month.

Indonesia is in discussions with three countries, including France, over the return of several high-profile detainees and aims to transfer the prisoners by the end of December.

“The French Embassy delivered a letter from the French Minister of Justice to the Indonesian Minister of Justice, dated November 4, containing a request for the transfer of a French prisoner named Serge Atlaoui,” Yusril said in a message to the AFP.

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