Indonesia says to release Australian Corby in 2017
Indonesia is due to release jailed Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby in September 2017, a prison chief said Friday, after she had five years slashed off her 20-year term. Corby could be released earlier if she is granted parole and will likely continue to receive the usual twice-yearly sentence reductions, Gusti Ngurah Wiratna, head of Kerobokan prison on Bali island, told reporters. "After subtracting her (annual) sentence cuts and the five-year clemency, she will be released from jail on September 20, 2017," Wiratna said. "In the future, she will continue to receive further remissions every August 17 on Independence Day, and on Christmas," he said, adding that a team would now evaluate Corby's eligibility for parole. He said Corby had served enough time to be eligible to file for parole, for which a prisoner much also "express remorse, show good behaviour and not commit any crimes while serving their sentence". Corby's lawyer Iskandar Nawing said that for Indonesian nationals, parole can be granted as quickly as three months after filing. "It will likely take much longer for a foreigner because we have to coordinate with the immigration office," Nawing said, declining to give a timeframe. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono approved clemency for Corby, 34, on Monday, cutting five years off her sentence, but her final release date had not at that time been made official. Corby was convicted in 2005 of smuggling 4.1 kilos (nine pounds) of marijuana. She filed a clemency appeal about two years ago to the Indonesian President, when her lawyers said she should be released on humanitarian grounds because of mental illness. Nawing has said that Corby had been driven insane at Kerobokan, one of Indonesia's most notorious prisons, whose 1,000 inmates include 60 foreigners, including several Australians.
