A good word has been put in for 3 of the Bali 9 by ​​jail governors and justice officials in advance of Indonesia’s Independence Day, when reductions in sentences and pardons are traditionally announced. Matthew Norman (34yo), Si Yi Chen (36yo), Scott Rush (35yo) and their families and friends will have their fingers crossed on 17 August for some good news. It’s unlikely they will be released but after 16 years in detention, but there is hope their sentences will be reduced for good behaviour. “If they don’t deserve to get it, I would not have proposed it,” said one official. The trio received life sentences along with 3 others for their attempt in 2005 to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Bali to Oz. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in 2015, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died in 2018 from cancer while in jail, and Renae Lawrence was released and came home in 2018.