JAKARTA: There were still many things to discuss on repatriating the five remaining members of the \u2018Bali Nine\u2019 drug ring to Australia and hopefully an understanding can be reached soon, Indonesia\u2019s senior minister on legal affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said.
\nThe announcement was made after the minister met with Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in Jakarta on Tuesday.
\n\u201cHopefully we could find an understanding,\u201d Yusril said, adding that he hoped to resolve the matter this month.
\nIndonesia has no regulations regarding transfer of prisoners, but the deal was initiated by President Prabowo Subianto\u2019s good intentions, Yusril said.
\nYusril said Indonesia would respect any decision taken by the country of origin of the prisoners, including an amnesty, adding that this was a transfer of prisoners and not an exchange.
\nLast month, Law 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.
\nSupratman had said Jakarta was seeking the repatriation of Indonesian prisoners held in Australia as part of the deal.
\nThe Bali Nine were arrested in 2005 as they attempted to smuggle heroin out of the Indonesian resort island.
\nTwo of the group\u2019s ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed in 2015, and Australia recalled its ambassador in protest.
\nOne of the members was released from prison in 2018, and another died of cancer the same year.
\nIndonesia last month agreed to repatriate Mary Jane Veloso, a Philippine woman on death row for drug trafficking, to serve the rest of her sentence in her home country.
\nFrance has also asked for the repatriation of a prisoner from Indonesia, Supratman said last month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JAKARTA: There were still many things to discuss on repatriating the five remaining members of the \u2018Bali Nine\u2019 drug ring to Australia and hopefully an understanding can be reached soon, Indonesia\u2019s senior minister on legal affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said. The announcement was made after the minister met with Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-447111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n