Australian man released from Bali jail, 14 years after gangster saga
An Australian man was released from a Bali prison Thursday after completing his sentence for drug smuggling on the holiday island following a three-year campaign to clear his name.
Michael Sacatides walked out of Bali’s notorious Kerobokan prison looking thin and pale but said he was looking forward to returning home and reuniting with his family after more than a decade behind bars.
“I feel good,” he told reporters as he left the jail. “I’m going home.”
The former Sydney nightclub host was arrested at Bali’s airport in October 2008 carrying 1.7 kilograms (3.7 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine in his luggage after arriving from Bangkok. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, but earned several remissions, a system in Indonesia that allows prisoners to have time shaved off for good behavior.
Sacatides has always maintained his innocence, saying the drugs were planted in his bag by a Thai drug syndicate. He eventually won a cut to his sentence that qualified him for early release.
In Australia, Sacatides’ case became a cause celebre, championed by notable Australians who lobbied for his release and claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy involving corrupt police and politicians in Bali.
Television host Ray Martin led a high-profile campaign for Sacatides’ release, arguing the Australian had been framed by a powerful crime syndicate protected by corrupt officials.
In his 2015 book about the case, journalist Mark Whittaker alleged Sacatides was a victim of corruption involving Bali’s then-police chief, General Budi Waseso, and a shadowy Chinese-Indonesian tycoon.
In 2015, the Bali High Court cleared Sacatides of all drug charges, but he remained in prison as prosecutors appealed the ruling.
Sacatides was finally released after successfully applying for sentence remissions as president of Indonesia Joko Widodo granted special sentence cuts for drug offenders from 2015 to 2021 to ease overcrowding in Indonesia’s prisons.