Schapelle Corby looks set to receive another reduction

Australian drug-smuggler Schapelle Corby looks set to receive another reduction on her prison term as part of Independence Day celebrations on August 17.

Corby, who was jailed for 20 years after trying to smuggle 4.2 kilos of marijuana into Bali in 2004, recently received presidential clemency, which saw her already reduced sentence cut by five years.

Prison officials this week revealed that she will likely get a further six-month cut on August 17.

Prison chief I Gusti Ngurah Wiratna insisted that Corby did not receive special treatment, and said that her reduction would be for good behaviour, and would be in line with traditional Independence Day cuts for inmates.

Wiratna said that almost half of the prison’s 912 inmates were in line for remission, adding that the official letter requesting Corby’s new cut had already been forwarded to the national Justice and Human Rights Ministry. He said that the final decisions on all the remission applications would be announced on August 17.

“We will announce it during the celebration of our Independence Day,” he said.

Corby is due for release in 2017, having accrued sentence reductions totalling more than seven years. The recent presidential clemency has been criticised by some politicians and anti-drugs campaigners, who have accused president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of attempting to curry favour with Australia.

Parole Hope: Schapelle Corby.

DENPASAR

Indonesia’s best-known prisoner, the Australian drug-smuggler Schapelle Corby, could be paroled next month after receiving a six-month cut to her sentence on Friday to mark Independence Day. For inmates other than those serving life sentences, remissions are granted on main national holidays to account for good behaviour behind bars.

The remission means that Corby, 35, will have served two-thirds of her 20-year sentence in September for bringing 4.2 kilograms of marijuana into Bali in 2004, and she can therefore apply for parole, said I Gusti Ngurah Wiratna, head of Kerobokan Prison in Bali where Corby is incarcerated.

If the application is granted by the Justice Ministry in Jakarta, Corby would have to remain in Bali until her sentence has been completed. Her sister Mercedes is married to a Balinese man and is living on the island and it is thought that Corby would stay with them if she were paroled.

Corby’s lawyer, Iskandar Nawing, said he expects that she will be freed towards the end of September.

In May, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reduced Corby’s term by five years after she filed for clemency. The president’s decision has been criticised by Indonesian anti-drugs campaigners and there are legal proceedings underway in Jakarta to have it overturned.