Townsville Bishop Timothy Harris has cautiously welcomed news that the surviving Bali Nine members will be repatriated to Australia in a deal with Indonesia. Source: The Guardian.
Bishop Harris has provided pastoral care to the families Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj since their arrest in 2005. He has also visited both men in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan prison.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised Bali Nine’s repatriation during a meeting with the Indonesian president, Prabowo Subianto, on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Peru last week. Senior Australian ministers have confirmed negotiations between the two nations are ongoing.
Indonesia’s law minister, Supratman Andi Agtas, has also confirmed the president’s in-principle support for the extradition. He said the delay in officially announcing a deal was due to the two nations not having a prisoner swap arrangement.
The Australians were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the Indonesian resort island. The members who remain in Bali serving life sentences are Rush, Czugaj, Matthew Norman, Si-Yi Chen and Martin Stephens.
Bishop Harris said the possible repatriation is “fantastic news, if true” but added he is being very cautious.
“I am very grateful for conversations that have taken place between the Australian Prime Minister and the President of Indonesia. I think those two men need to be congratulated and credit given where it is due,” Bishop Harris said.
Bishop Harris said spoke with Rush’s father, Lee, in recent days and he believed the family has not yet received any official confirmation of a deal. He was wary of hard-line Indonesian politicians seeking to stop the repatriation.
“Scott’s parents are salt-of-the-earth people,” Bishop Harris said. “They have been through hell and I think they are quietly hopeful they will get their son home.”
“After 20 years, how much more can a person take? There comes a time where it is better to bring them home.”
Bishop Harris stressed that he and the Rush family wanted the Indonesian justice system to be respected.
Trade Minister Don Farrell yesterday said the five men would continue to serve their sentences in Australia if the deal went through.
FULL STORY
Parents of surviving Bali Nine inmates ‘quietly hopeful’ as minister confirms talks under way to return them to Australia (By Henry Belot and Kate Lamb, The Guardian)
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