Renae Lawrence charges through a large media pack at Newcastle Airport today on her return to Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Renae Lawrence charges through a large media pack at Newcastle Airport today on her return to Australia. Photo / Getty Images
After 13 years in an Indonesian prison, Renae Lawrence is back on Australian soil.
But the Bali Nine drug mule's freedom will forever be tainted by the knowledge that certain people here want her gone.
Lawrence was the only member of the Bali Nine to walk free. Three others aredead — two executed by firing squad and one of terminal illness — while the remaining five are in prison for life.
Australian Renae Lawrence, centre, is escorted as she leaves Bangli prison in Bali, Indonesia yesterday. Photo / AP
Now, the valuable information she gave the authorities to reduce her sentence in the first place could come back to bite her.
The Bali Nine were arrested in April 2005 over a plot to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin out of Indonesia.
Questioned by authorities the day after their arrest, the ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran denied any wrongdoing on the advice of their lawyers. They were the only two not caught with any heroin.
But Lawrence immediately co-operated with Indonesian officials.
On the advice of her legal team, she named those involved in the drug plot, offering up critical information explaining how the plan unfolded.
Lawrence received a shorter sentence of 20 years for her honesty, and managed to whittle it down a further seven due to her good behaviour.
But while her decision to tell the truth saw her freed from prison early, she may be made to suffer the consequences on the outside.
According to Seven News reporter Chris Reason, Lawrence was flanked by about 50 Indonesian police members as she was escorted from prison to Bali International airport — for her own protection.
"Of those 50, about a dozen were bristling with very serious weaponry, and body armour and full-face masks," he told 2GB radio. "I think they are taking that threat extremely seriously.
"A very high contact in one of the ministries said, 'We just want to see her get out of here alive. What happens in Australia is not our problem.'
"If she hadn't given that intel, theoretically, Andrew Chan wouldn't have been convicted in Indonesia and faced the death squad," Reason said. "She certainly has enemies among that drug ring.
"And also, her evidence led to the arrest of several senior drug operatives in Australia."
As she was questioned, key pieces of the Bali Nine puzzle came together, including that this was not Renae and Andrew's first drug run from Bali.
The previous October, they — with several others — had succeeded in taking heroin to Australia. Another trip had been planned in December 2004, but had not gone ahead.
During their trials in Indonesia, the divisions between the group were laid bare, according to the book The Pastor and the Painter, by News Corp journalist Cindy Wockner.
"When Myuran and Andrew were called to testify as witnesses at Renae Lawrence's trial, the air was thick with contempt," she wrote.
"'I'm not sitting with Andrew and Myuran and that Tidak mau,' Lawrence told the judges, using the Indonesian word for 'Don't want'.
"She sat with her lawyers, at the bar table, to ensure she did not come into contact with the others."
Renae Lawrence charges through a large media pack at Newcastle Airport today on her return to Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Tensions heated up between Chan and Lawrence during questioning. Chan refused to answer questions, saying "I don't know" when he was asked about his arrest. He said he wasn't willing to be a witness in Lawrence's trial, and denied that he had threatened to kill her and her family if she didn't carry the heroin.
"Bohong," said an angry Lawrence in response — Indonesian for "lies".
Under questioning, she went into detail, claiming Chan gave her a long list of "do's" and "don't's", including not using her mobile phone or leaving the hotel.
She eventually confessed that she had come to Bali before with Chan and other Bali Nine members.
Lawrence was always expected to have a tough time on her return to Australia.
Reporters have followed her around with cameras all morning, leaving the woman teary and visibly-stressed as she travelled from Brisbane to her hometown of Newcastle. She refused to answer any questions.
She also faces two outstanding warrants for stealing a motor vehicle, driving while unlicensed, speeding and failing to comply with police directions.
Lawrence is escorted into a Denpasar Court, February 13, 2006 in Denpasar. Photo / Getty Images
Lawrence is expected to make a court appearance to answer the charges, which possibly could be dismissed.
How she handles life back in Australia and freedom may be testament to the patience Lawrence has learnt in prison.
But the underlying threat of those she wronged 13 years ago may be her hardest battle of all.
"I think she will be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life," Reason said. "She's felt that threat and fear for some time. Some of these guys are now out of prison — the ones who were imprisoned in Australia as a result of the Bali Nine operation.
"It's something that will always be at the back of her mind."
