Corby’s parole may be revoked

Australian beauty therapist Schapelle Corby sits inside a police car as she arrives at the court in Denpasar in the Indonesian resort island of Bali in this August 25, 2006, photograph. File picture: Murdani Usman

Australian beauty therapist Schapelle Corby sits inside a police car as she arrives at the court in Denpasar in the Indonesian resort island of Bali in this August 25, 2006, photograph. File picture: Murdani Usman

Published Mar 4, 2014

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Sydney -

Australian drug mule Schapelle Corby could have her parole revoked after a documentary about her release from jail, Indonesia's justice minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old, whose case has been the subject of huge fascination in Australia since her 2004 arrest in Bali, was set free last month from Kerobokan prison on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Under parole conditions, she must remain in Bali until 2017. The Indonesian government also warned her against any interviews amid speculation of a million-dollar deal with Australia's Channel Seven.

In a documentary broadcast on Sunday night, Seven interviewed her sister, Mercedes, while including footage of Corby as she was whisked away from jail in a van. It also showed candid video of her first moments back with her family.

Seven said no payment was involved, but Fairfax Media said “an angry looking” Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin told a small group of journalists in his office that he may revoke her parole after watching the show.

“I am waiting for a complete report from the Bali Corrections Board, and in the meantime I'd like to announce that there's a possibility I will revoke Corby's parole,” he was quoted as saying.

Corby was convicted over 4.1kg of marijuana stashed in her surfing gear.

She has always proclaimed her innocence with her sister, in the interview, claiming the drugs “could have been from Indonesia”, suggesting she had been set up, which Fairfax said was particularly controversial.

It added that politicians from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's parliamentary coalition immediately started to pressure the government to act after seeing the documentary, saying the Corby family had tried to “sneak around the law”.

While Corby's steadfast proclamations of innocence and well-documented fight with mental illness in prison generated much sympathy in Australia, her release drew protests from Indonesian lawmakers and an anti-drugs group who said it contradicted the country's tough anti-narcotics laws.

In the interview, Mercedes Corby said her sister was “broken” by her time in jail.

She was imprisoned for 20 years in 2005, but the end of her sentence was brought forward to 2016 on several remissions for good behaviour, and a five-year cut following an appeal for clemency to the Indonesian president. - Sapa-AFP

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