'Bali nine' members Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen (L), Si Yi Chen (2nd R) and Matthew Norman (R). Photo / Reuters
DENPASAR, Bali - Three of the Bali Nine sentenced to death for heroin smuggling have begged a court to spare them, and allow them to return to Australia to turn their lives around.
Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen and Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, who were caught at a
Bali hotel with about a third of a kilogram of heroin, all made emotional appeals in the Denpasar District court today.
All three admitted for the first time that they'd been part of the failed operation to smuggle about 8kg of heroin into Australia in 2005.
They each read statements to the court, asking to be spared the death penalty, and begging to be returned home to Australia.
"Admittedly, I was stupid to believe that I wouldn't get caught breaking the law," Norman said during his personal appeal.
"But at the time I was at a point in my life where I didn't care too much about myself, or anything or anyone else."
The three have launched an application for a Supreme Court judicial review of their case, in a final bid to beat the death penalty.
- AAP
