<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>335719</docID> <postdate>2024-12-20 10:21:07</postdate> <headline>Bali five reunited with family in time for Christmas</headline> <body><p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Jacob Shteyman</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Five members of the Bali Nine have been released from custody to spend Christmas with their families for the first time in 20 years.</strong></p> <p>Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen and Michael Czugaj - all now aged in their late 30s or 40s - spent two decades locked in Bali's Kerobokan Prison after being found guilty of attempting to traffic heroin.</p> <p>After spending four days in the Howard Springs federal accommodation facility near Darwin, the men returned to their respective homes on Thursday where they will continue reintegrating with Australian society.</p> <p>It draws an end to the saga which up-ended the five men's lives and tested Australia's diplomatic relations with its northern neighbour.</p> <p>Indonesia has some of the world's strictest drug laws and sparked a diplomatic incident when Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad in 2015.</p> <p>Renae Lawrence was released in 2018 and Tan Duc Than Nguyen died of cancer the same year.</p> <p>Previous attempts to free the remaining Bali Nine members had failed to gain traction but the accession to power of President Prabowo Subianto in October renewed hope for their release.</p> <p>The Australian government finally struck a deal with their Indonesian counterparts earlier in December, which Indonesia's senior minister for legal affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said was "reciprocal in nature".</p> <p>Australian ministers have denied a quid pro quo agreement that would force the government to consider freeing Indonesian prisoners in Australia in the future.</p> <p>The five men, who have not been pardoned, are banned from entering Indonesia for life.</p> </body>