Commission XIII Of The House Of Representatives Asks The Government To Make Legal Rules For The Transfer Of Bali Nine Prisoners

Member Of The House Of Representatives From The PDI-P Faction Andreas Hugo Parera/ ANTARA/Rolandus Nampu

Member of Commission XIII of the House of Representatives from the PDI-P faction Andreas Hugo Parera asked the government to make legal rules regarding the transfer of Bali Nine prisoners.

This was conveyed by Andreas during a working visit at the Class IIA Kerobokan Penitentiary, Badung Regency, Bali, Friday, December 6.

Andreas said that his party welcomed the efforts of the government of the Republic of Indonesia to transfer prisoners as a form of strengthening diplomatic relations with Australia.

However, according to Andreas, the transfer of prisoners must be based on a legal umbrella so that it does not conflict with Indonesia's positive law considering that the prisoners are punished based on Indonesia's positive law.

"There may be an agreement between the government. But from our side, of course we must have a positive law related to that," he said.

"In this case, they have permanent legal force, and permanent legal force must be respected," he said.

Therefore, according to Andreas, official legal rules need to be made so that the transfer of these prisoners to their home country does not conflict with the laws in force in Indonesia.

"Therefore, we must carry out the rules of the game related to the law, where the regulations are used as umbrellas to then make transfers," he said.

Andreas assessed that the rule of law is very important so that if one day there is a request from Indonesia to the country, then there is equal reciprocity. He denied that the transfer of prisoners back to their home country was a step back to take action against narcotics crimes.

"The transfer is related to many aspects, regarding human matters, bilateral relations, good relations between countries. That could be and many (imposed) presidents in many countries. The legal basis must be made," he said, quoted by ANTARA.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra stated that the Indonesian government had submitted a draft requirement for the transfer of Bali Nine prisoners to the Australian side. Until now, the Australian government has not provided an answer to these requested requirements.

According to Yusril, President Prabowo Subianto himself has requested that the process of transferring Bali Nine prisoners be carried out before Christmas 25 December 2025.

Bali Nine is the nickname for nine Australian inmates who were arrested in Bali for being involved in a drug syndicate case in 2005. They were proven to have infiltrated 8.2 kilograms of heroin.

The nine inmates include Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumarian, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Reane Lawrance, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, and Martin Stephens.

Andrew and Myuran were executed in 2015, while Renae was sentenced to 20 years in prison and has been released in 2018 after receiving several remissions. Meanwhile, Tan Duc died in detention while serving life imprisonment in 2018.

Currently, there are only five Bali Nine inmates who are still serving life in prison in Indonesia. They are Si Yi, Michael, Matthew, Scott, and Martin.