Indonesia: Balinese royalty throws her support behind the Bali Nine lifers

Balinese royalty Lindy Klim throws her support behind the Bali Nine drug traffickers serving life without parole... as Renae Lawrence prepares to return home after 13 years

A member of the Balinese royal family has expressed sympathy for the forgotten Bali Nine drug traffickers serving life sentences in Indonesian prisons.

Lindy Rama-Ellis, formerly known by her married name Lindy Klim, told Daily Mail Australia that several of the convicted heroin smugglers had 'really changed their lives' following their arrests more than 13 years ago, yet there are still no signs of mercy from the country's government.

The 40-year-old model and fashion designer is the daughter of the late Prince of Denpasar, Anak Agung Oka Rama, and his Australian wife. In addition to her royal status, she has close links to Australia due to her marriage to former Olympian Michael Klim, which ended in 2016.

'I don't really get into this kind of thing, I try to stay out of it, but I do feel really sad for these people [the Bali Nine],' Lindy said while attending the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday afternoon.

'I feel like a lot of them have really changed their lives and I know they've got an art gallery within the prison [for prisoner art programs] and I think that they're doing really great things,' she added.

'And now they're even earning money for the first time and the prison has never done that. My heart does go out to them.'

Lindy admitted that the life sentences were 'absolutely' devastating for the Bali Nine and their families.

However, she warned 'that's the unfortunate thing if you're involved in drugs in Bali', which has some of the strictest drug laws in the world.

Five Australians - Si Yi Chen, Martin Stephens, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, and Matthew Norman - are currently serving life without the possibility of parole after being arrested at Denpasar airport in April 2005 for attempting to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Sydney.

The two ringleaders, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, were executed by firing squad in 2015 and fellow syndicate member Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died of cancer in prison earlier this year.

The only member of the Bali Nine with a release date is drug courier Renae Lawrence, whose initial life sentence was commuted to 20 years' imprisonment on appeal.

She is expected to leave Bangli Prison and return to Australia later this month after serving more than 13 years behind bars.

Lawrence herself has acknowledged the leniency of her sentence compared to her fellow drug traffickers serving life terms for the same crime.

The 41-year-old former panel beater told News Corp in August: 'What about the others? Only I will be free. The others aren't free.'

It is believed the Indonesian judges took a sympathetic view of her because she was more cooperative during her trial while the others refused to answer questions.

Recently there has been a renewed push to commute the life sentences of the remaining Bali Nine members - especially Matthew Norman and Si Yi Chen, who are currently residing at Kerobokan Prison.

While behind bars, the two men have established various rehabilitative programs, including English lessons, silversmithing, art and computer classes, and T-shirt printing.

They have also been commended for their good behaviour by prison authorities.

Kerobokan Prison governor Tonny Nainggolan has previously said that he wanted their sentences reduced.

'As prison governor, in my opinion, both of them deserve to get remissions to change their sentence,' he told the Courier Mail on Indonesian Independence Day earlier this year.

'Since I have been here for one year and seven months I have proposed for their remission twice, to change the sentence from life to 20 years' imprisonment,' he added.

The youngest member of the Bali Nine, Norman was just 18 when he was arrested in a Kuta hotel room with 334g of heroin in a planned raid by Bali police, shortly after four drug-carrying mules and ringleader Andrew Chan were apprehended at Denpasar airport.

He has spent almost his entire adult life in prison.

Chen, who is the only child of hard-working Chinese immigrants, was arrested in the same hotel raid alongside Nguyen and Sukumaran. He was 20 years old at the time.

Meanwhile, Rush and Czugaj - two wayward 19-year-olds from Brisbane - were among those arrested at the airport with heroin strapped to their bodies and concealed under baggy Hawaiian T-shirts and shorts.

Stephens and Lawrence, masquerading as a couple on holiday, were also arrested carrying large quantities of the drug while waiting for their flight. Chan (who wasn't carrying drugs) was apprehended after already boarding the plane.

Police and customs officers knew the Bali Nine were planning to leave the country thanks to a detailed tip off from the AFP, which had been tracking the syndicate's movements in Australia for months.

The AFP asked their Indonesian counterparts to keep the group under surveillance in Bali, but did not explicitly ask for them to be arrested. However, it is inconceivable that local police would have allowed the drugs to run to Australia if they suspected a major importation was taking place.

The AFP's involvement in the case, which culminated in the executions of Chan and Sukumaran in 2015, has been controversial, with some even suggesting the officers responsible have 'blood on their hands'.

Meanwhile, Lindy has previously said she feels quite detached from the world of Balinese royalty due to her upbringing in Tasmania, Australia.

'I usually don't tell local Balinese my real name as I don't think I deserve the respect as I didn't grow up in Bali and I don't even speak the language fluently,' she told My Empirical Life in April.

BALI 9: TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS

OCTOBER 2004 - Several members of the Bali Nine carry out a successful drug run from Indonesia to Australia. A second attempt is made in December before being aborted due to lack of funds.

EARLY 2005: The AFP have the drug syndicate under surveillance in Australia in the lead up to their ill-fated trip.

APRIL 3-8: Unaware their movements are being tracked by the AFP, the Bali Nine - Myuran Sukumaran, Andrew Chan, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Scott Rush, Michael Czugaj, Si Yi Chen, Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens and Renae Lawrence - travel to Indonesia.

APRIL 8 and 12: The AFP alerts Indonesian police to the Bali Nine's plans in two letters. The letters reveal information about the traffickers - including photos, passport numbers and what hotels they'd booked - as well as the proposed method of exportation. The letters are written in Indonesian and signed by Paul Hunniford, the AFP's liaison officer in Bali.

APRIL 17: After receiving a bulk of heroin imported by a Thai prostitute named Cherry Likit Bannakorn, the Bali Nine attempt to leave for Australia. Four syndicate members - Rush, Czugaj, Lawrence and Stephens - are busted at the airport carrying drugs on their bodies, while ringleader Chan is arrested on the plane.The remaining four - Sukumaran, Chen, Norman and Nguyen - are caught with drugs at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta shortly afterwards.

FEBRUARY 2006: The Bali Nine are convicted and sentenced at Denpasar District Court after a highly-publicised trial. All are found guilty, with Chan and Sukumaran being sentenced to death. The rest get life sentences.

APRIL 2006: Twelve months after her arrest, Lawrence successfully appeals her life sentence, which is commuted to 20 years' imprisonment.

2010: Around this time, the ringleaders begin to transform their lives behind bars, with Chan embracing his newfound Christian faith and Sukumaran learning to paint and leading art classes.

DECEMBER 2014: Despite pleas from the Australian government, Indonesia decides to proceed with the executions.

APRIL 29 2015: Chan and Sukumaran are executed by firing squad at Nusakambangan prison

MAY 9 2018: Nguyen dies of cancer in prison

NOVEMBER 2018: Lawrence is expected to be released from prison. Norman, Chen, Stephens, Rush and Czugaj remain on life sentences with no possibility of parole unless their punishment is commuted.

Source: dailymail.co.uk, Jo Scrimshire, November 7, 2018

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