Following weeks of intrigue about a possible deal, the remaining members of the Bali Nine have been released from prison in Indonesia and returned to Australia. The five Australians had served nearly 20 years of their life sentence for their involvement in a drug-smuggling operation.
The legal basis for their return is not yet clear because there is no prisoner transfer agreement between Indonesia and Australia. This is not surprising, given agreements of this sort are notoriously difficult to negotiate, due to the disparities in sentencing between countries for offences like this.
But it is clear the transition from former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to the country’s new leader, Prabowo Subianto, earlier this year was key to this deal happening now. There are three reasons for this.
