Convicted drug trafficker Renae Lawrence has pleaded for the remaining five Bali Nine prisoners to have their sentences reduced, coinciding with an official visit to Australia by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Ms Lawrence, who served 13 years in an Indonesian prison after she was in 2005 caught with 2.7 kilograms of heroin strapped to her body at Bali airport, told reporters in Canberra on Sunday she was pleading for leniency for the remaining members of "the so-called Bali Nine".
Smuggling plan ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in 2015 while Queenslander Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died from cancer in 2018.
"I am breaking my self-imposed silence to request President of Indonesia Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Scott Morrison to consider a reduction in the sentence for the remaining five prisoners of the Bali Nine, who are all serving life sentences," Lawrence said in her first public comments since her release.
"These humane actions will in some small part bring our nations closer together.
"When we were arrested in 2005, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens and Si Yi Chen were all very young men.
"Matthew Norman was the youngest at 18 years of age and Michael Czugaj and Scott Rush were just 19.
"If they had received the same sentence as me [they] may well have been back in Australia with their families by now."
Ms Lawrence, who said she hoped to visit Indonesia again one day, said she was asking that a prisoner exchange with Australia be considered if sentences could not be reduced.
"I have no quarrel with the Indonesian legal system, but I continue to worry about these five young men ... these young men are losing hope," she said.
"Their families constantly travel to Indonesia to visit their sons at great expense.
"We acknowledge that we did the wrong thing and we continue to apologise to the Indonesian government and the citizens of Indonesia and Australia and its people for our stupidity."
Lawrence's comments came the same day the Indonesian leader was greeted by the Governor-General ahead of his address to federal parliament later this week.
Mr Widodo is expected to sign off on a free trade agreement with Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday morning after arriving in Australia on Saturday night.
