Holiday Ayo - The Indonesian government has agreed to repatriate the five remaining members of the Bali Nine group, who are currently serving life sentences in Indonesia, to Australia.

In relation to this, the Indonesian Minister of Law (Menkum) Supratman Andi Agtas said that his party is reviewing the transfer of the five foreign national (WNA) convicts who are drug smugglers.

He said that the review of the transfer of the life-sentenced WNA convicts is still being carried out together with the Indonesian Coordinating Minister (Menko) for Political, Legal, Immigration, and Correctional Affairs (Kumham Imipas) Yusril Ihza Mahendra and related stakeholders.

"The results of the review will later be consulted with the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Prabowo, so that the decision that is taken is the best," said Supratman in a statement confirmed in Jakarta, Monday.

The five WNA convicts who are members of the Bali Nine are Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, and Martin Stephens.

In principle, Supratman said, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has approved the transfer of foreign prisoners to their home countries on humanitarian grounds and to maintain good relations with friendly countries.

Even so, he continued, until now, Indonesia does not have a fixed procedure regarding the transfer of international prisoners, but his party will try the process as quickly as possible.

"This is important to maintain good relations with friendly countries. However, we must also ensure that partner countries respect the legal process in Indonesia," he emphasized.

According to him, the country of origin of foreign prisoners must recognize the decision of the Indonesian court, because Indonesia has the authority to try foreigners who commit crimes in the territory of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

With that, he emphasized that foreign prisoners who are transferred to their home countries do not mean they are free, but they must complete their prison terms in their respective countries according to Indonesian legal decisions.

In addition to the transfer of foreign prisoners to their home countries, he continued, Indonesia will also try to repatriate prisoners from Indonesia who are currently being held abroad.

"We also ask our families, Indonesian citizens (WNI) who are abroad (as prisoners), to return to Indonesia as much as possible if an exchange occurs. However, the mechanism is still under review," said Supratman.

To date, the Indonesian Ministry of Law (Kemenkum) has received letters from ambassadors of friendly countries regarding the transfer of foreign national prisoners to their home countries.

He said that he would show the letter of request for the transfer of the prisoners to the President of the Republic of Indonesia.

The Bali Nine is the nickname for nine Australian prisoners who were arrested in Bali, Indonesia for being involved in a drug syndicate case in 2005.

The nine convicts were proven to have smuggled 8.2 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia.

The nine convicts in question are Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Renae Lawrance, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, and Martin Stephens.

Andrew and Myuran were executed in 2015. Renae was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was released in 2018 after receiving several remissions, while Tan Duc died in custody while serving a life sentence in 2018.

Now, there are only five prisoners from the Bali Nine members who are still serving life sentences in Indonesia, namely Si Yi, Michael, Matthew, Scott, and Martin.