CANBERRA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton has declared he has no sympathy for a convicted drug smuggler who is preparing to return to Australia.
Renae Lawrence was released from Indonesia's Bangli Prison on Wednesday after serving more than 13 years imprisonment for her involvement in the Bali Nine drug smuggling plot.
Lawrence will be arrested by New South Wales (NSW) Police upon her return to Australia for her alleged involvement in two offences prior to her arrest in Bali in 2005.
Dutton on Wednesday dismissed the notion that Lawrence should be shown leniency by NSW authorities after serving her sentence for drug smuggling.
"If you commit that 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 Australia.
"If you've committed offences in our country, you need to face the justice system here."
Lawrence was the first member of the Bali Nine, who attempted to smuggle 8.3 kg of heroin from Indonesia to Australia in 2005, to be released from prison.
She was initially sentenced to life imprisonment for her involvement but had the sentence reduced to 20 years because of her cooperation with the investigation.
More than six years were taken off the sentence for good behaviour.
Ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in April 2015 despite the Australian government working for nearly a decade to have their sentences changed to life imprisonment.
"The Indonesian government, like the Australian government, takes the issue very seriously," Dutton said on Wednesday.
"If people are travelling they need to understand that there are serious penalties, particularly in Southeast Asia, including the death penalty in some countries."
Five other men involved in the plot are serving life sentences and a sixth, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, died of cancer in May.
