Matthew James Norman (born 17 September 1986)[2] is an Australian man who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine.
[3] A subsequent appeal to the Indonesian Supreme Court, following a full confession by Norman to his role in the plan to import heroin from Bali to Australia, resulted in the original sentence of life imprisonment being reinstated.
[4] From Quakers Hill[5] in Sydney's western suburbs, Norman was employed at Eurest, a catering company, where he met colleagues Martin Stephens, Renae Lawrence, and his supervisor, Andrew Chan.
[6] Media reports based on the testimony of co-conspirator, Renae Lawrence, claim that Norman was involved in an attempt in December 2004, at trafficking from Indonesia to Australia.
The delivery was aborted when heroin suppliers failed to deliver "due to a financial matter or someone knowing about the plan the shipment was cancelled".
[9] About 20 minutes after checking in, Norman, aged 18, was arrested at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta on 17 April 2005 with Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Myuran Sukumaran and Si Yi Chen.
Indonesian police claim the group were in possession of 334 g (11.8 oz) of heroin and bundles of plastic wrapping, Elastoplast tape, and a set of scales, indicating involvement in a plan to transport drugs to Australia.
[9] Earlier that day at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Indonesian police also arrested the following drug mules after they were found carrying various amounts of heroin concealed on their bodies.
Alleged co-ringleader, Andrew Chan was also arrested the same day while seated on an Australian Airlines flight waiting to depart Denpasar for Sydney.
Rush senior claims then to have received assurances from the AFP that they would tell his son he was under surveillance to dissuade him from going through with the crime before the group's departure from Indonesia.
[10][11][12] When the Bali Nine were arrested, the news of the tipoff became public[13] and there was criticism of the role of the AFP in protecting the interests of Australian citizens.
[17] However, the judges hearing the trial matters in Bali called for Australia not to intervene in Indonesia's right to impose capital punishment;.