Bali Nine’s Renae Lawrence up for sentence cut
Set free in 2017, Renae Lawrence know wants her fellow heroin smugglers' sentences reduced. Photo: Getty
Bali Nine member Renae Lawrence has been recommended to have her jail time cut by six months as part of Indonesia’s annual Independence Day sentence remissions, paving the way for her to be released next year.
Lawrence, who is currently being held at Bangli prison on the island’s north, is among 24 foreigners in Bali’s prison system that have been recommended for sentence cuts on Thursday, the head of Bali’s Legal and Human Rights Office Maryoto Sumadi said on Wednesday.
“She was proposed to receive a six months remission,” he added.
Lawrence was sentenced to 20 years in jail for her part in the 2004 Bali Nine heroin smuggling plot, and is the only remaining member of the group eligible to receive time off her sentence.
She has already shaved off more than five years for good behaviour since her imprisonment.
With the sentence reductions, it is understood she could be released as early as next year.
Sentence reductions routinely occur in Indonesia on Independence Day and also on religious holidays, including Christmas and Idul Fitri.
Also eligible to have their sentences cut are drug smuggler Edward Norman Myatt, paedophile Robert Ellis and former Perth developer Eric Bevan Gillet, jailed over the fraudulent sale of luxury villas.
It is not known yet whether Australian woman Sara Connor, sentenced over the fatal group assault of a Bali police officer, has been recommended for a sentence.
However, her British boyfriend David Taylor has not been put forward for a reduction in his term.
Head of Kerobokan prison Tony Nainggolan said the cut was not proposed for Taylor as the prison had yet to receive a copy of his sentence from the court.
The pair are serving five- and six-year terms respectively over the death of Wayan Sudarsa, whose bloody body was discovered on Kuta Beach in the early hours of August 17 last year.
– AAP