A TORTUROUS half-decade facing the fear of an Indonesian firing squad has ended for Bali Nine drugs mule Scott Rush with a last-ditch review by the Indonesian Supreme Court saving him from death.

The decision, announced last night in Canberra by Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, comes six years after Rush, 25, was arrested at a Bali airport with more than a kilogram of heroin strapped to his leg.

Eight other people were arrested the same day, April 17, 2005, and charged over a plot to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin to Australia.

''The Indonesian Supreme Court has today accepted Scott Rush's appeal against his death sentence and have instead sentenced him to life,'' Mr Rudd told Parliament.