Bali Nine drug smuggler Andrew Chan out of hospital

Andrew Chan (right)

Convicted Bali Nine drug smuggler Andrew Chan has returned to Kerobokan Prison after being discharged from a Bali hospital.

Chan, who was rushed to Denpasar's Sanglah Hospital on Monday afternoon after collapsing in his cell, was released late on Tuesday after his condition improved.

The Bali Nine ringleader is still suffering from pneumonia but a spokesman for the hospital, Putra Wibawa, said he was now well enough to return to the prison.

"After observation by the doctors, the patient (was found) to be suffering pneumonia," Putra said.

"His condition is now getting better and he has been allowed to leave the hospital yesterday at 7pm (2300 AEDT)."

The head of Kerobokan Prison, Siswanto, has said Chan collapsed in his cell after complaining of breathing difficulties, and was taken to hospital on Monday afternoon.

Chan is on death row, along with fellow Bali Nine ringleader Myuran Sukumaran, for his part in the 2005 plot to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia.

Both are awaiting the outcome of final appeals.

They are among nine Australians convicted over the plot.

Source: AAP, January 19, 2010

Bali Nine member 'furious and devastated' as appeal rejected

Martin Stephens

THE lawyer for Martin Stephens fears the convicted Bali Nine drug-smuggler serving life in Kerobokan jail will harm himself.

This comes after the rejection of a judicial appeal to reduce his sentence to 10 years.

Wirawan Adnan said yesterday that Stephens, 34, was "furious and devastated". "His expression to me on Friday was: 'I cannot live like this for the next 20 years'. Who could? A life sentence could mean 20 years if he is compliant with prison guards . . . and he is being a good boy. I don't think anybody could accept that kind of reality . . . to spend the rest of their life in jail."

Stephens, convicted for his part in the 2005 plot to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Australia, had sought a judicial review from the Indonesian Supreme Court. Indonesia's top court said on Thursday the original ruling had been upheld. A spokesman said there had been no error in the previous judgment.

Mr Adnan visited Stephens for about an hour, urging him to seek a pardon from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is not known to be merciful to drug traffickers. If he chose not to pursue this avenue, which has no time limit, it was the end of the road for him, Mr Adnan said. "I don't believe he deserves life for what he did . . . the remaining option is for a presidential pardon. But I have to warn him of the consequences: if he uses this option he has to confess to all the things he said he didn't do . . . that he was not there just for the ride."

That entailed admitting he was well connected to all the Bali Nine drug members in Australia before the failed plot and that he had been involved in the masterminding of drug trafficking. Stephens has argued he was under the command off fellow smuggler Renae Lawrence. "He said he was frightened and it was a life-threatening situation," Mr Adnan said.

Source: The Australian, January 17, 2011
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