Renae Lawrence
Encyclopedia
Renae Lawrence an Australian former hospitality worker and panel beater
, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine
. In 2005, on her third trip to Bali
, Lawrence was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar
with 2.689 kg (5.9 lb) of heroin concealed on her body. After a criminal trial where she co-operated with investigators and informed on the ringleaders, on 13 February 2006 Lawrence was sentenced to life imprisonment
, despite prosecutors' call for a 20-year penalty. Her appeal
to the Indonesian Supreme Court
to have the life sentence reduced was successful, and on 26 April 2006 a sentence of 20–years imprisonment was handed down.
Lawrence is currently serving her sentence in Kerobokan Prison
and was given a five month remission of her sentence on Merdeka Day in 2009. Her release date is in February 2026.
in New South Wales
, came from a broken home
and for most of her teen and early adulthood years she lived with her same sex partner and mother of three children, who was ten years older than Lawrence. After the relationship with her partner ended, Lawrence moved back in with her mother and stepfather. Her father described Lawrence, who was aged 27–years at the time of her arrest, as:
Initially employed with a smash repair company, Lawrence later gained employment at Eurest
, a catering company, where she met Martin Stephens
, Matthew Norman
, and her supervisor, Andrew Chan
. All four would later be convicted of drug trafficking as fellow members of the Bali Nine.
In an earlier unrelated incident, Lawrence and Norman were arrested on 26 March 2005, travelling along the Pacific Highway
in a stolen vehicle. It was reported that police were required to use road spikes
to intercept the vehicle. Both were due to appear on 26 April 2005 in the Gosford
Magistrates Court to face car theft and traffic related charges. However, due to their arrest in Indonesia nine days earlier, both Lawrence and Norman failed to appear.
home to celebrate her 27th birthday. Here she was allegedly told by Chan that she was to travel with him to Bali, without being told the detail behind the mission. Lawrence claimed that Chan would cover all airflights and accommodation and that if she disobeyed him or disclosed the nature of their arrangement, he would "send (her) family to the farm". Lawrence claimed that Chan said there would be a reward, should she follow his instructions. It was also reported that she met Myuran Sukumaran
around this time. On 16 October 2004, Lawrence flew to Bali on what Indonesian police claim was a false passport. It was alleged that Chan entered Bali on the same date. Lawrence claimed that she was in regular contact with Chan whilst she stayed in the Istana Rama Hotel in Kuta, and Chan in Kuta's sprawling Hard Rock complex. Media reports stated that Lawrence alleged that on 22 October 2004, Sukumaran strapped packages to the body of both Lawrence and Chan, and with Chan's girlfriend, Grace, boarded a commercial flight to Australia, successfully clearing security, customs and immigratino in both Indonesia and Australia. Lawrence claimed that she and Chan were met at the airport, the packages removed, all of them taken to another house, and then Lawrence went home. A few days later Lawrence claimed that Chan handed her an envelope with A$10,000 cash.
A similar trip was organised following Chan's orders, Lawrence claimed, where she departed Australia on 5 December 2004. Lawrence claimed that seven others were involved, including Chan, Matthew Norman, and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen
(going by the alias of David). Lawrence claim that she was again given cash to purchase airflights and accommodation for eight days, staying again at the Istana Rama in Kuta. However, the second delivery was aborted when heroin suppliers failed to deliver "due to a financial matter or someone knowing about the plan the shipment was cancelled".
According to Lawrence, again under Chan's instructions, Lawrence departed Australia on 6 April 2005. The day before, Lawrence, Stephens and Si Yi Chen
met with Sukumaran where police allege drug smuggling tools such as sealable plastic bags, medical tape, elastic waist bands and skin tight bike shorts were stuffed into the bags of Lawrence and Stephens. Lawrence claims she was given cash; whilst Stephens claims that his life was threatened. Media reports claim that police records show that Lawrence was in daily contact with Chan, whilst in Bali, until 13 April, when Chan changed his mobile phone number. On the same day, he instructed Lawrence and other members of the Bali Nine to change hotels. The original planned departure date of 14 April from Bali was delayed as Chan suspected Australian and Indonesian police were aware of his plans.
, Michael Czugaj
and Stephens were arrested at the same time as Lawrence. On 20 April 2005, graphic footage of the arrests and subsequent police questioning of Lawrence and other members of the Bali Nine was aired on Australian television.
On the same day that Lawrence was arrested, Indonesian police also arrested Si Yi Chen, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Myuran Sukumaran and Matthew Norman at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta
. Alleged co-ringleader, Andrew Chan was also arrested the same day whilst seated on an Australian Airlines
flight waiting to depart Denpasar for Sydney
. At the time Chan was arrested, he was carrying three mobile phones and a boarding pass. No drugs were found in his possession. On her arrest, Lawrence accused Chan of threatening her life if she did not continue with the plan to import drugs. Lawrence also claimed, but later retracted her statement, that Chan had offered her A$15,000, if she followed his instructions. Lawrence also rejected police allegations that she travelled to Bali previously on a false passport.
At the time of the arrest, it was reported that Lawrence was recorded as saying:
Lawrence was reported to have attempted suicide
twice since her imprisonment and also suffered a broken arm due to an incident involving self harm. These incidents occurred after learning that Chan was to be moved to the same prison.
(AFP) prior to the commission of the offence, fearing his son was travelling to Bali and would commit a drug-related crime. Rush senior claims then to have received assurances from the AFP that they would tell his son he was under surveillance
to dissuade him from going through with the crime before the group's departure from Indonesia. Scott Rush's lawyers said he was never contacted. It was revealed that the AFP alerted Indonesian police that a crime was to be committed approximately two weeks before the arrests, and had commenced an investigation about ten weeks prior to the arrests. When the Bali Nine were arrested, the news of the tipoff became public and there was criticism of the role of the AFP in protecting the interests of Australian citizens. Commenting on the matter at the time, AFP Commissioner
Mick Keelty
was reported as saying:
Lawrence's father, Bob Lawrence, said in October 2005 he wanted to meet Commissioner Keelty face to face:
Rush took action in the Federal Court of Australia
against the AFP for breach of the bilateral treaty
between Indonesia and Australia when information was handed by the AFP to the Indonesians. Rush's case claimed that such information should only be released by the Attorney-General. However, the Commonwealth Government maintained that the treaty only applies after a suspect is charged. The application was dismissed by the Federal Court in January 2006.
and Sukumaran and Chan. Several days later, lawyers acting for some members of the Bali Nine initially sought the support of the Director of Public Prosecutions to intervene and lay charges for conspiracy to import drugs, so that the nine could be extradited and charged under Australian law. However, the judges hearing the trial matters in Bali called for Australia not to intervene in Indonesia's right to impose capital punishment;. Lawyers acting for Stephens, one of the Bali Nine, claimed that the fairness of his trial was in jeopardy following comments made in the media by Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda
that Australians should be prepared for members of the Bali Nine to receive a death sentence, if found guilty.
Czugaj and Rush, both since convicted members of the Bali Nine and school friends from Brisbane
, testified that they had never met Lawrence or Stephens until they were all arrested together at Ngurah Rai Airport. Rush also testified against Lawrence at her trial; whilst Lawrence testified against both Rush and Chan. Meanwhile, in a counter-claim, Chan alleged that it was Lawrence who was the ringleader. Chan claimed that Lawrence had given him Rp
1 million to take suitcases with heroin to the Melasti Hotel.
It was reported that the indictment
claimed that Lawrence was a drug mule who was recruited in Sydney, was paid for her return flight and accommodation to Bali by members of the conspiracy and then had two kilograms of heroin strapped to her body by Chan, Sukumaran and another of the group. Central to Lawrence's defence was her fear of Chan and the alleged retributions Chan, her former manager at Eurest, was planning to take on her family if she and others did not follow Chan's orders. Lawrence admitted to her role in attempting to smuggle the drugs to Australia, saying before the Denpasar District Court on 8 January 2006:
In what was considered a shock for Lawrence and her defence team, she was sentenced on 13 February 2006 to life imprisonment, together with Rush.
Commenting on the sentences at the time, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Keelty stated:
Australian Prime Minister
John Howard
was reported as commenting:
As verdicts and sentences were handed down in the trials of the Bali Nine, additional arrests were made in Australia.
Lawrence appealed against the severity of the sentence to the Indonesian Supreme Court. On 26 April 2006 a sentence of 20–years imprisonment was handed down.
magazine reported that Lawrence has a Balinese girlfriend with whom she shares her prison cell and that her former partner in Newcastle had warned her against getting involved with Chan. Both serving time for drug trafficking in Kerobokan Prison, Schapelle Corby
and Lawrence have developed a close but at times fraught relationship. In an interview with Woman's Day
magazine, Lawrence says she has been appointed to care for Corby, who has become increasingly mentally unstable and has watched Corby's condition deteriorate since the pair was jailed four years ago.
Panel beater
A panel beater is a term used in some Commonwealth countries to describe a person who repairs vehicle bodies back to their factory state after having been damaged . In the USA the same job is done by an auto body mechanic...
, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine
Bali Nine
The Bali Nine is the name given to a group of nine Australians arrested on 17 April 2005, in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, in a plan to smuggle of heroin valued at approximately A$4 million from Indonesia to Australia...
. In 2005, on her third trip to Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, Lawrence was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar
Denpasar
Denpasar is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. It has a rapidly expanding population of 788,445 in 2010, up from 533,252 in the previous decade. It is located at .-History:...
with 2.689 kg (5.9 lb) of heroin concealed on her body. After a criminal trial where she co-operated with investigators and informed on the ringleaders, on 13 February 2006 Lawrence was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
, despite prosecutors' call for a 20-year penalty. Her appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
to the Indonesian Supreme Court
Indonesian Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Indonesia is the independent judicial arm of the state. It maintains a system of courts and sits above the other courts and is the final court of appeal. It can also reexamine cases if new evidence emerges.-Jurisdiction:...
to have the life sentence reduced was successful, and on 26 April 2006 a sentence of 20–years imprisonment was handed down.
Lawrence is currently serving her sentence in Kerobokan Prison
Kerobokan Prison
Kerobokan Prison is a prison located in Kerobokan, Badung Regency, on the Indonesian island of Bali. The prison opened in 1979 and contains about 1000 male and female prisoners of various nationalities.- Notable prisoners :...
and was given a five month remission of her sentence on Merdeka Day in 2009. Her release date is in February 2026.
Background
Lawrence, from NewcastleNewcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, came from a broken home
Broken Home
Broken home is a term used to describe a household, usually in reference to parenting, in which the family unit does not properly function according to accepted societal norms. This household might suffer from domestic violence, a dissolved marriage, drug abuse, or anything else that interferes...
and for most of her teen and early adulthood years she lived with her same sex partner and mother of three children, who was ten years older than Lawrence. After the relationship with her partner ended, Lawrence moved back in with her mother and stepfather. Her father described Lawrence, who was aged 27–years at the time of her arrest, as:
- "She is not 27 at heart. She's probably 15. She's just really gullible, naive and bloody stupid. She's not a bad kid. She's just got in with the wrong mob..... It surprises me that she would get involved in this but she was pretty desperate. She was upset when the car blew up. She was crying on the phone to her aunty wanting money. She was doing it tough. I don't think she's ever had a lot of money."
Initially employed with a smash repair company, Lawrence later gained employment at Eurest
Eurest
Eurest is a catering company owned by the Compass Group. They operate within 80 countries, providing staff restaurants and supplying vending machines for businesses....
, a catering company, where she met Martin Stephens
Martin Stephens
Martin Eric Stephens , an Australian former bartender, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, on his first trip to Bali, Stephens was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar with of heroin taped to his chest and concealed under his...
, Matthew Norman
Matthew Norman
Matthew James Norman , an Australian citizen, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Norman was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta together with three others. Police uncovered of heroin in a suitcase in the room. After a criminal trial,...
, and her supervisor, Andrew Chan
Andrew Chan
Andrew Chan , an Australian citizen, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Chan was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar...
. All four would later be convicted of drug trafficking as fellow members of the Bali Nine.
In an earlier unrelated incident, Lawrence and Norman were arrested on 26 March 2005, travelling along the Pacific Highway
Pacific Highway (Australia)
The Pacific Highway is a major transport route along part of the east coast of Australia and is part of Australia's national route 1.It is 960 km long and links Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, along the coast, via Gosford, Newcastle, Taree, Port...
in a stolen vehicle. It was reported that police were required to use road spikes
Spike strip
A spike strip is a device used to impede or stop the movement of wheeled vehicles by puncturing their tires...
to intercept the vehicle. Both were due to appear on 26 April 2005 in the Gosford
Gosford, New South Wales
Gosford is a city located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, approximately 76 km north of the Sydney central business district...
Magistrates Court to face car theft and traffic related charges. However, due to their arrest in Indonesia nine days earlier, both Lawrence and Norman failed to appear.
Alleged trafficking conspiracy
Media reports claim that in early October 2004 Lawrence was invited to Chan's EnfieldEnfield, New South Wales
Enfield is a suburb, in the Inner-West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Enfield is located 13 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Burwood Council.-History:...
home to celebrate her 27th birthday. Here she was allegedly told by Chan that she was to travel with him to Bali, without being told the detail behind the mission. Lawrence claimed that Chan would cover all airflights and accommodation and that if she disobeyed him or disclosed the nature of their arrangement, he would "send (her) family to the farm". Lawrence claimed that Chan said there would be a reward, should she follow his instructions. It was also reported that she met Myuran Sukumaran
Myuran Sukumaran
Myuran Sukumaran Myuran Sukumaran Myuran Sukumaran (Tamil: (மயூரன் சுகுமாரன்) (born 17 April 1981 in London, England) is an Australian who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Sukumaran was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta with three...
around this time. On 16 October 2004, Lawrence flew to Bali on what Indonesian police claim was a false passport. It was alleged that Chan entered Bali on the same date. Lawrence claimed that she was in regular contact with Chan whilst she stayed in the Istana Rama Hotel in Kuta, and Chan in Kuta's sprawling Hard Rock complex. Media reports stated that Lawrence alleged that on 22 October 2004, Sukumaran strapped packages to the body of both Lawrence and Chan, and with Chan's girlfriend, Grace, boarded a commercial flight to Australia, successfully clearing security, customs and immigratino in both Indonesia and Australia. Lawrence claimed that she and Chan were met at the airport, the packages removed, all of them taken to another house, and then Lawrence went home. A few days later Lawrence claimed that Chan handed her an envelope with A$10,000 cash.
A similar trip was organised following Chan's orders, Lawrence claimed, where she departed Australia on 5 December 2004. Lawrence claimed that seven others were involved, including Chan, Matthew Norman, and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen
Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen
Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen , a Vietnamese–Australian citizen, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Nguyen was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta together with three others. Police uncovered of heroin in a suitcase in the room...
(going by the alias of David). Lawrence claim that she was again given cash to purchase airflights and accommodation for eight days, staying again at the Istana Rama in Kuta. However, the second delivery was aborted when heroin suppliers failed to deliver "due to a financial matter or someone knowing about the plan the shipment was cancelled".
According to Lawrence, again under Chan's instructions, Lawrence departed Australia on 6 April 2005. The day before, Lawrence, Stephens and Si Yi Chen
Si Yi Chen
Si Yi Chen , an Australian citizen, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Chen was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta together with three others. Police uncovered of heroin in a suitcase in the room. After a criminal trial, on 15...
met with Sukumaran where police allege drug smuggling tools such as sealable plastic bags, medical tape, elastic waist bands and skin tight bike shorts were stuffed into the bags of Lawrence and Stephens. Lawrence claims she was given cash; whilst Stephens claims that his life was threatened. Media reports claim that police records show that Lawrence was in daily contact with Chan, whilst in Bali, until 13 April, when Chan changed his mobile phone number. On the same day, he instructed Lawrence and other members of the Bali Nine to change hotels. The original planned departure date of 14 April from Bali was delayed as Chan suspected Australian and Indonesian police were aware of his plans.
Arrest in Indonesia
Lawrence was arrested by Indonesian police on 17 April 2005 at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali. Heroin weighing 2.689 kg (5.9 lb) was discovered strapped to her legs and chest, concealed underneath her clothing. Scott RushScott Rush
Scott Anthony Rush , an Australian former labourer, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, on his first trip to Bali, Rush was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar with of heroin concealed on his body. After a criminal trial, on...
, Michael Czugaj
Michael Czugaj
Michael William Czugaj , an Australian former glazier from Oxley, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Czugaj was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar with of heroin concealed on his body...
and Stephens were arrested at the same time as Lawrence. On 20 April 2005, graphic footage of the arrests and subsequent police questioning of Lawrence and other members of the Bali Nine was aired on Australian television.
On the same day that Lawrence was arrested, Indonesian police also arrested Si Yi Chen, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Myuran Sukumaran and Matthew Norman at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta
Kuta
Kuta is administratively a district and subdistrict/village in southern Bali, Indonesia. A former fishing village, it was one of the first towns on Bali to see substantial tourist development, and as a beach resort remains one of Indonesia's major tourist destinations...
. Alleged co-ringleader, Andrew Chan was also arrested the same day whilst seated on an Australian Airlines
Australian Airlines
Australian Airlines was a full-service airline based in Australia, servicing Australian and Asian destinations between 2002 and 2006. It was an all-economy, full-service international leisure carrier and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, although run independently of the mainline carrier...
flight waiting to depart Denpasar for Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. At the time Chan was arrested, he was carrying three mobile phones and a boarding pass. No drugs were found in his possession. On her arrest, Lawrence accused Chan of threatening her life if she did not continue with the plan to import drugs. Lawrence also claimed, but later retracted her statement, that Chan had offered her A$15,000, if she followed his instructions. Lawrence also rejected police allegations that she travelled to Bali previously on a false passport.
At the time of the arrest, it was reported that Lawrence was recorded as saying:
- "By dobbing some other **** I'm not killing my family. And what's the point anyway, because if we dob them in, right, we dob them in, they kill our family and then we're dead anyway. So, you know, why... Don't tell them and they'll just kill us instead and leave our families alone."
Lawrence was reported to have attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
twice since her imprisonment and also suffered a broken arm due to an incident involving self harm. These incidents occurred after learning that Chan was to be moved to the same prison.
Criticisms of Australian Federal Police tipoff
Lee Rush, the father of Scott Rush, a fellow member of the Bali Nine, said that he contacted the Australian Federal PoliceAustralian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...
(AFP) prior to the commission of the offence, fearing his son was travelling to Bali and would commit a drug-related crime. Rush senior claims then to have received assurances from the AFP that they would tell his son he was under surveillance
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
to dissuade him from going through with the crime before the group's departure from Indonesia. Scott Rush's lawyers said he was never contacted. It was revealed that the AFP alerted Indonesian police that a crime was to be committed approximately two weeks before the arrests, and had commenced an investigation about ten weeks prior to the arrests. When the Bali Nine were arrested, the news of the tipoff became public and there was criticism of the role of the AFP in protecting the interests of Australian citizens. Commenting on the matter at the time, AFP Commissioner
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
Mick Keelty
Mick Keelty
Michael Joseph "Mick" Keelty AO APM , Australian police officer, was the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police from 2001 to 2009...
was reported as saying:
- "One of the things we've got to remember is that we operate within our criminal-justice system here in Australia, and if we only co-operated with countries that had the same criminal-justice system, then our co-operation wouldn't extend very far beyond Australia. We have to work with the systems that operate in other countries, and to a large degree this has been successful, certainly in terms of heroin trafficking."
Lawrence's father, Bob Lawrence, said in October 2005 he wanted to meet Commissioner Keelty face to face:
- "As far as I'm concerned, and excuse the expression, he is an arsehole. These kids were forced into this … they should have been either arrested at the airport here or followed to get the big guys. I don't know how they can sleep at night … even if they (the Bali nine) were guilty of doing it willingly, it still doesn't deserve the death penalty."
Rush took action in the Federal Court of Australia
Federal Court of Australia
The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law , along with some summary criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance by single Judges...
against the AFP for breach of the bilateral treaty
Bilateral treaty
A bilateral treaty is a treaty strictly between two state parties. These two parties can be two states, or two international organizations, or one state and one international organization.It is similar to a contract, so it is called contractual treaty....
between Indonesia and Australia when information was handed by the AFP to the Indonesians. Rush's case claimed that such information should only be released by the Attorney-General. However, the Commonwealth Government maintained that the treaty only applies after a suspect is charged. The application was dismissed by the Federal Court in January 2006.
Criminal trial
In December 2005, as the trials began, it was reported that tensions were building between the Bali Nine drug mulesMule (smuggling)
A mule or courier is someone who smuggles something with him or her across a national border, including bringing in to and out of an international plane, especially a small amount, transported for a smuggling organization. The organizers employ mules to reduce the risk of getting caught...
and Sukumaran and Chan. Several days later, lawyers acting for some members of the Bali Nine initially sought the support of the Director of Public Prosecutions to intervene and lay charges for conspiracy to import drugs, so that the nine could be extradited and charged under Australian law. However, the judges hearing the trial matters in Bali called for Australia not to intervene in Indonesia's right to impose capital punishment;. Lawyers acting for Stephens, one of the Bali Nine, claimed that the fairness of his trial was in jeopardy following comments made in the media by Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda
Hassan Wirajuda
Nur Hassan Wirajuda was the foreign minister of Indonesia from 2001 to 2009. Her serves under presidencies of Megawati Sukarnoputri andSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono- Educations :...
that Australians should be prepared for members of the Bali Nine to receive a death sentence, if found guilty.
Czugaj and Rush, both since convicted members of the Bali Nine and school friends from Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, testified that they had never met Lawrence or Stephens until they were all arrested together at Ngurah Rai Airport. Rush also testified against Lawrence at her trial; whilst Lawrence testified against both Rush and Chan. Meanwhile, in a counter-claim, Chan alleged that it was Lawrence who was the ringleader. Chan claimed that Lawrence had given him Rp
Indonesian rupiah
The rupiah is the official currency of Indonesia. Issued and controlled by the Bank of Indonesia, the ISO 4217 currency code for the Indonesian rupiah is IDR. Informally, Indonesians also use the word "perak" in referring to rupiah...
1 million to take suitcases with heroin to the Melasti Hotel.
It was reported that the indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
claimed that Lawrence was a drug mule who was recruited in Sydney, was paid for her return flight and accommodation to Bali by members of the conspiracy and then had two kilograms of heroin strapped to her body by Chan, Sukumaran and another of the group. Central to Lawrence's defence was her fear of Chan and the alleged retributions Chan, her former manager at Eurest, was planning to take on her family if she and others did not follow Chan's orders. Lawrence admitted to her role in attempting to smuggle the drugs to Australia, saying before the Denpasar District Court on 8 January 2006:
- "I would like to say to you and your country that I am sincerely sorry for what I have done. I need you to understand why I did it and ask for the mercy of this court. I'm guilty of carrying this stuff to Australia, but I'm not guilty of owning, selling or anything else because Andrew Chan owns it, not me."
Sentencing and appeal
In spite of widespread media reports that Lawrence had been cooperative with police, the Indonesian judges found no evidence of Lawrence claims her life was threatened. Judge I Gusti Ngurah Astawa said during sentencing,- "The council of judges found no proof of the use of force in this crime, therefore the defendant has to be sentenced as fairly as possible.
In what was considered a shock for Lawrence and her defence team, she was sentenced on 13 February 2006 to life imprisonment, together with Rush.
Commenting on the sentences at the time, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Keelty stated:
- "I stand by the police and what they've done … The Federal Court actually made a decision saying not only had they acted lawfully but they acted in accordance with government policy."
Australian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
was reported as commenting:
- "The police are there to protect us from the ravages of drugs and I just hope that every young Australian who might in their wildest imagination think that they can get away with this will take a lesson from this." and "I feel desperately sorry for the parents of these people. I do. All of us as parents will feel that way, but the warnings have been there for decades."
As verdicts and sentences were handed down in the trials of the Bali Nine, additional arrests were made in Australia.
Lawrence appealed against the severity of the sentence to the Indonesian Supreme Court. On 26 April 2006 a sentence of 20–years imprisonment was handed down.
Prison life
In June 2006 the New IdeaNew Idea
New Idea is a long-running Australian weekly magazine published by Pacific Magazines and aimed at women.-History:The magazine was first published in 1902 by Fitchett Bros. Southdown Magazines purchased Fitchett Bros...
magazine reported that Lawrence has a Balinese girlfriend with whom she shares her prison cell and that her former partner in Newcastle had warned her against getting involved with Chan. Both serving time for drug trafficking in Kerobokan Prison, Schapelle Corby
Schapelle Corby
Schapelle Leigh Corby is an Australian woman convicted of drug smuggling who is imprisoned in Indonesia.Corby is serving a 20-year sentence for the importation of of cannabis into Bali, Indonesia...
and Lawrence have developed a close but at times fraught relationship. In an interview with Woman's Day
Woman's Day
Woman's Day is aimed at a female readership, covering such subjects as food, nutrition, fitness, beauty and fashion. The magazine edition is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines....
magazine, Lawrence says she has been appointed to care for Corby, who has become increasingly mentally unstable and has watched Corby's condition deteriorate since the pair was jailed four years ago.