The Politics of Capital Punishment and the Bali Nine

The remaining members of the Bali Nine – Scott Rush, Matthew Norman, Si-Yi Chen, Martin Stephens and Michael Czugaj – are all serving life sentences in jail. But now there is a real possibility the five men, arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the resort island, may finally return to Australia to serve their time here. Guardian Australia reporter Ben Doherty is a former foreign correspondent covering south-east Asia, and Kate Lamb was a senior Indonesia correspondent before joining as an international editor in Sydney. Both reporters reflect on what has happened nearly 20 years since the arrests and examine the delicate politics behind bringing the remaining members back to Australia.