Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Five Australians jailed in Papua for illegally flying into the Indonesian province without visas last year have won their freedom in the country's Supreme Court.
The group – pilot William Scott-Bloxam, his wife Vera Scott-Bloxam and friends Hubert Hofer, Keith Mortimer and Karen Burke – are expected to return home within days, once paperwork is completed.
Justice Djoko Sarwoko, the chief judge on the three-member panel hearing the application, confirmed the ruling to The Australian tonight. "Yes, it's been decided," Justice Sarwoko said.
The quintet had already had their convictions and sentences of three years for Mr Scott-Bloxam, and two years for each of the other four, overturned in March the Jayapura High Court, in Papua.
However under Indonesia's labyrinthine legal system, they were then forced to wait while the Supreme Court in Jakarta considered an extra appeal by local prosecutors against the acquittals.
That prosecution appeal was partly a result of poor communication between the local prosecutors and the Attorney General's department in Jakarta, where there had already been agreement at senior levels that the five would be allowed to return to Australia without challenge.
However news reporting of their acquittal, and public criticisms by members of the group of the local prosecutor's office, has since been cited as the key reason why Merauke officials acted so quickly at the time to rearrest the group.
But the Supreme Court has refused to even consider the prosecution appeal in the case of the four passengers, and threw out Mr Scott-Bloxam's case after judging it wanting, The Australian has learned.
There has been a sense of urgency at the highest levels of the Indonesian judiciary to have the case dealt with quickly, lest it turn into a public issue with Australians claiming unfair treatment at the hands of Jakarta's court system.
The five, aged between 50 and 60, can expect to be home within days. Lawyer Efrem Fangohoy said yesterday Mr Scott-Bloxam had already been able to inspect his twin-engined light aircraft to determine that it was ready to leave.
"We're waiting for the judgement to be sent to Papua – we hope that will happen within a week, and then they can have their passports back and go home," Mr Fangohoy said.
The group arrived in Papua on September 12 last year from Horn Island in far north Queensland, claiming they planned a weekend investigating tourism opportunities.
They said they did not realise they were required to get a visa before arriving in the country. They were also required to pay fines of nearly $AUD4000 under Indonesia's aviation law.