Convicted drug smuggler Renae Lawrence has been released from prison in Indonesia and banned from re-entering the country.
Lawrence, 41, is expected to be on a 9.50pm fight home to Australia after spending 13 years behind bars for her involvement in a trafficking syndicate.
She was arrested at Bali’s main airport in April 2005 with 2.7 kilograms of heroin strapped to her body as part of a failed bid to smuggle a total of eight kilograms of the drug into Australia with a number of other mules – later dubbed the Bali Nine.
Lawrence will make the 90 minute journey from Bangli Prison to Denpasar Airport.
Convicted drug smuggler Renae Lawrence has been released from prison in Indonesia
Renae Lawrence (pictured) a week after her arrest in 2005 – she will fly home from Bali on Wednesday night – but has outstanding criminal offences awaiting her arrival in Australia
Issues with paperwork were blamed for Lawrence’s delayed release on Wednesday afternoon but it’s understood all immigration and release papers have now been completed.
About 50 heavily armed police officers poured out of Bangli Prison where they were briefed for her imminent release, Nine News reported.
Just before 5pm local time officials addressed the media about Lawrence but she was no where to be seen.
Maryoto Sumadi, head of Bali’s justice and human rights office, spoke in Indonesian before holding up her release papers and saying: ‘She is a free woman’.
Mr Sumadi said Lawrence would be deported and banned from re-entering Indonesia for life.
At the conclusion of the conference, guards and media flooded the prison door in anticipation for the release of Lawrence.
Lawrence eventually walked from the doors, covered by guards.
Just before 5pm local time officials addressed the media about Lawrence but she was no where to be seen
Maryoto Sumadi, head of Bali’s justice and human rights office, spoke in Indonesian before holding up her release papers and saying: ‘She is a free woman’
Lawrence appeared after the the conference concluded, flooded by guards and wearing sunglasses (pictured in car on the way to the airport)
She wore sunglasses and hung her head as she was swept into a black Toyota four-wheel drive.
There was originally speculation Lawrence would speak at the media conference.
Lawrence will reportedly be issued a new Australian passport to allow her to leave Indonesia.
She should touch down in Australia at 5am on Thursday morning.
Upon her return, Lawrence is facing two arrest warrants from NSW Police, which have been outstanding since 2005.
One warrant alleges she was involved in a high-speed chase in a stolen car with fellow Bali Nine member Matthew Norman.
Police patrolled Bangli Prison ahead of Lawrence’s release on Wednesday afternoon (pictured)
On Wednesday, Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said he has ‘no sympathy’ for the ex panel-beater, and suggested she face the full extent of the law.
‘If you commit that kind of offence, there is a heavy penalty to pay, and it doesn’t give you credit when you get back to Australia,’ he told Sky News.
But NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller suggested a deal with Lawrence’s lawyers was more likely than a fresh set of handcuffs on the tarmac.
Lawrence was originally sentenced to 20-years but served almost 14 years after numerous reductions for good behaviour.
Prison governor Made Suwendra praised Lawrence for contributing to prison life in Bangli and being a co-operative inmate.
Mr Suwendra hoped Lawrence would be helped to integrate back into life in Australia.
‘Renae Lawrence is in a healthy condition. She seems to be happy, but also a bit nervous,’ Mr Suwendra told AFP.
Renae Lawrence (pictured) days after her arrest in Bali on April 17, 2005 – she was released from jail on Wednesday
Daily Mail Australia understands Lawrence will be given a few days to ‘settle in’ at her Newcastle home before she responds to the outstanding police charges from over a decade ago.
A court date will likely be set for December in Gosford, on the NSW central coast.
Lawrence is the only Bali Nine member to be released.
Ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in 2015 and Tan Duc Thahn Nguyen died of stomach cancer in May earlier this year.
Martin Stephens, 42, Michael Czugaj, 32, Scott Rush, 33, and Si Yi Chen, 33, remain in prison where they are serving life sentences, with little chance of release.