Renae Lawrence urges Scott Morrison to help reduce sentences of fellow Bali Nine members

Bali Nine drug smuggler Renae Lawrence has called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to help reduce the sentences of the five remaining members.

Bali Nine member Renae Lawrence speaks during a press conference at the Pavilion Hotel in Canberra

Bali Nine member Renae Lawrence speaks during a press conference at the Pavilion Hotel in Canberra Source: AAP

Bali Nine member and convicted drug trafficker Renae Lawrence has pleaded for the remaining five prisoners to have their sentences reduced, coinciding with .

Lawrence, who was released in 2018, told reporters in Canberra on Sunday, that if their sentences could not be reduced, she was asking that a prisoner exchange with Australia be considered.

"These humane actions will in some small part bring our nations closer together," she said in her first public comments since her release.

Mr Widodo landed in Canberra on Saturday night ahead of the signing of a free-trade agreement with Australia on Monday, when he will also address parliament.

She thinks Prime Minister Scott Morrison should push to get something done and believes there is a good opportunity to have talks about it.

"I'm really hoping Scott Morrison will stand up and speak to Mr Widodo and really help these boys," Lawrence said.
Bali Nine member Renae Lawrence speaks during a press conference at the Pavilion Hotel in Canberra
Bali Nine member Renae Lawrence speaks during a press conference at the Pavilion Hotel in Canberra Source: AAP
In April 2005, Lawrence was caught with eight others trying to smuggle 8.3 kg of heroin out of Indonesia to Australia.

Ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in 2015.

Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, and Martin Stephens were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Ms Lawrence to an original 20-year sentence.

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died of cancer in an Indonesian hospital in 2018.

Lawrence concedes it would be very hard for Mr Widodo to meet her demands given many people in Indonesia are against it.
Bali Nine drug smuggler Renae Lawrence upon her arrival back in Australia, November 22, 2018.
Bali Nine drug smuggler Renae Lawrence upon her arrival back in Australia, November 22, 2018. Source: AAP
But she said the president can give "them a second chance, like the same I got".

"It is a big ask but I think its time we sort of helped them," she said.

She said it was like a death sentence for the remaining five.

"We all did something stupid, we all regret it, but everybody deserves a second chance," she said.

"If this doesn't happen, they have got no hope, they'll lose hope and the end will be devastating."

She said if she could meet Mr Widodo during his visit she would say "sorry".


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Published 9 February 2020 3:16pm
Updated 9 February 2020 3:49pm
By SBS News
Source: SBS


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