Five Australian drug convicts get reduced sentences

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) – Five young Australians
jailed for life in Indonesia after being caught smuggling
heroin from Bali have had their sentences cut to 20 years, but
an appeal court upheld the death penalty on two ringleaders.

The five were members of the so-called “Bali Nine” gang
arrested on the resort island last year while trying to smuggle
more than 8.2 kg (18 lb) of heroin to Australia.

“The purpose of these punishments is not to seek revenge
but to give defendants chances to fix their lives,” Bali High
Court deputy chief Hyster Arsan Pardede told reporters after
the appeal verdicts.

But the court upheld death sentences for the group’s two
masterminds and also approved the life sentence of another drug
courier who had not appealed.

A decision on the ninth ring member’s appeal has not yet
been made.

Three of the convicts who had their sentences reduced —
Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, Si Yi Chen and Matthew Norman — were
arrested at a Kuta Beach hotel last year where heroin, scales
and other drug-related equipment were found.

The others were Renae Lawrence and Michael Czugaj, two of
the four drug couriers who strapped bags of heroin to their
bodies before trying to board a plane to Australia at Bali’s
airport.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said after the
original sentences that the punishments should serve as a
warning to other young Australians.

The prosecution and the defense can ask higher courts to
look again at the cases, so the appeals are not necessarily
final.