Bangli, Indonesia - Australian heroin
courier Renae Lawrence was released from an Indonesian prison on
Wednesday, the first of the so-called Bali Nine drug smuggling
ring to gain freedom after the execution of the two ring leaders
strained ties between the countries.
Lawrence, 41, left Bali's Bangli prison through a doorway
where prison officers had laid Hindu offerings. A large media
scrum surrounded Lawrence as she was ushered into a black SUV.
A police convoy escorted the vehicle as it headed to
Denpasar airport, where Lawrence was to be held in a temporary
detention centre while waiting for an overnight flight to
Sydney.
She will not be allowed to return to Indonesia, said Maryoto
Sumadi, the chief of Bali's Justice Office.
Lawrence was arrested at Denpasar airport in 2005 with 2.7
kilos of heroin strapped to her body. She was initially
sentenced to life in prison.
With the support of prosecutors, the sentence was reduced to
20 years on appeal, largely because Lawrence co-operated with
investigators and disclosed the roles of other Bali Nine
members. Remissions cut her prison time by a further seven
years.
Indonesia has harsh laws against drugs and the other eight
members of the Bali Nine received the death penalty or life
sentences.
The two ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were
executed by firing squad in 2015, causing a diplomatic rupture
between Australia and Indonesia. Australia recalled its
ambassador in protest.
Chan and Sukumaran, who apologised for their crimes, helped
scores of Indonesian prisoners through language and training
programmes they set up inside Bali's Kerobokan prison.
Another member of the Bali Nine, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, died
of kidney cancer in May.
The other five are all serving life jail terms. They have
failed in repeated attempts to get their sentences reduced.
In Australia, Lawrence faces two outstanding warrants,
reportedly relating to a high speed chase with police in a
stolen car before her fateful trip to the Indonesian holiday
island.
She has been asked to report to police in Gosford, north of
Sydney, when she returns, her father Bob Lawrence told
Australian broadcaster Nine News.
A spokeswoman for police in the Australian state of New
South Wales told Reuters the two warrants related to traffic
offences, but declined to elaborate.
Police would be in touch with Lawrence's legal team about
the warrants in a "timely manner", she said.