A member of the Bali Nine was left “speechless” after winning his freedom after almost 20 years in one of the world’s most infamous prisons.
Matthew Norman, 38, is one of the remaining ‘Bali Five’ who landed on Australian soil on Sunday from Indonesia, where they spent 19 years behind bars for trying to smuggle heroin out of Denpasar airport in April 2005.
Norman, the youngest of the Bali Nine members, just 18 when they were captured, was eager to get “easy money, quick money” when he was approached and offered $15,000 for a drug trafficking job.
It was a “reckless and callous” decision that would ruin his life and cause him to face the death penalty.
But having gained his freedom in recent days, Norman couldn’t find words to describe his joy.
“Matthew said (in Indonesian): ‘I’m overwhelmed. It’s happening so fast that I have no words to say it, I’m speechless. “I’m happy to be back home,” said Putu Murdiana, head of Bali’s prison division. Sydney Morning Herald.
But it will no doubt be a bittersweet moment for Norman, given that he has family in Indonesia from whom he is now separated.
He married his Indonesian girlfriend of four years, Anita, in February 2016.
Matthew Norman sits between Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen and Si Yi Chen from Sydney in a Denpasar District Courtroom for his sentencing in 2006. Nguyen later died of cancer while in custody.
The five freed Bali Nine conspirators, from left: Martin Stephens, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, Matthew Norman and Siu Yi Chen watch as their releases are approved by Australian and Indonesian officials.
The couple said yes, in front of family and friends on the leafy grounds of Kerobokan prison, and Norman became a stepfather to Aninta’s young daughter, Stella, now 15.
The family was able to spend up to three hours together a day and turned the prison into a strange home away from home.
Loving family photos show smiling husband and wife celebrating special occasions, including Stella’s recent graduation in June and Norman’s birthday in September.
Norman’s devoted father Michael had also moved to Bali to be by his son’s side after leaving his life in Sydney worried about his son’s well-being while in prison.
It is unclear when, if ever, the couple will be able to reunite, as Norman is banned from returning to Indonesia.
Her only hope would be to be granted an Australian visa, but their unconventional relationship might not meet the country’s strict entry requirements.
“It is possible for a couple to have a genuine marital relationship for the purposes of the Migration Act even if they have never lived together,” Australian immigration lawyer Perry Q. Wood previously told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The question would be whether despite this it is possible to demonstrate that the relationship is an authentic marital relationship.
Norman married his Indonesian girlfriend of four years, Anita, in February 2016 (the couple are pictured together)
The couple said yes, in front of family and friends on the leafy grounds of Kerobokan prison, and Norman became a stepfather to Aninta’s young daughter Stella, now 15 (pictured).
“Taking into account evidence including financial aspects, the nature of the home, social aspects and the couple’s degree of commitment to each other.”
“This may be difficult if the couple has never lived together, but the assessment will ultimately depend on a delegate of the minister.”
Norman left school at 16 because he wanted to work and earn money rather than finish his HSC.
He later told ABC News that he had been “reckless, insensitive, wanting to take shortcuts in life.”
Norman, who was a naïve teenager when he was first locked up in Kerobokan Prison, discovered that his imprisonment had had a serious effect on his family back home. One of her sisters became anorexic, another was bullied, and her parents received hate mail.
Norman, one of only two original Bali Nine who remained in Kerobokan until their release, designed t-shirts, bags and posters and continued to petition for a sentence reduction.
But he admitted that each day was “just a fight to keep doing good things” amid the “chaos” of prison.
Norman was sentenced to life in prison at his February 2006 trial and, like his co-defendant Si Yi Chen, confidently appealed for a reduction, with the surprising result that both were sentenced to death.
Norman was forced to make a full confession about his role in the Bali Nine drugs plot in order to have his original life sentence reinstated.
Later, his mother, Robyn Davis, thanked the Government of Indonesia.
“Well, I guess it’s better than getting shot,” he said.
‘He’s fine. Hopefully they will continue to look after him while I’m not here and when I come back and spend a little more time with my son.’
Norman was just 18 years old and eager to make “easy money, quick money” when he was approached and offered $15,000 for a drug trafficking job.
He left school at 16 because he wanted to work and earn money instead of finishing his HSC.
He later told ABC News that he had been “reckless, insensitive, wanting to take shortcuts in life.”
He has seen a fellow prisoner hang himself and others become “mentally… crazy” and “I can’t fall for that.”
‘We are not getting any younger. “It would be nice to come home soon and start our lives again… start over,” Norman said in 2015.
Norman, along with fellow Bali Nine members Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen and Michael Czugaj, are currently detained at a Howard Springs facility near Darwin for an undisclosed period of time before they are allowed to reunite with their families.
The group will have to undergo rehabilitation in Australia as part of the conditions for their release from Indonesia.