Jakarta Globe – AFP, February 7, 2014
Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby seen here escorted by police to a court in Denpasar in Bali on Aug. 25, 2006. (AFP Photo) |
Bali/Jakarta.
Convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby will soon walk free from a notorious
Bali prison after Indonesia’s justice minister confirmed on Friday that she had
been granted parole, bringing to an end her nine years spent as a guest of the
Indonesian justice system.
“Corby is
one of the 1,291 [inmates whose parole has been processed],” Amir Syamsuddin
said at a delayed press conference on Friday afternoon. “I do not want to talk
specifically about Schapelle. What I want to stress here is that this
conditional parole is not a policy, not generosity of the government, nor the
ministry, it is a law that is regulated and enacted by the government.
“Because of
that, we, myself as the minister, we uphold the law and our nation has our own
dignity. We uphold the law without looking at who the person involved is. One
more time, do not force me to repeat, we have dignity, there is law in the
country. We do not seek popularity and we are not afraid of critics. Enough,”
the minister said in Jakarta.
Corby was
sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2005 after customs agents at Bali’s Nugurah
Rai International Airport found 4.1 kilograms of marijuana in her bodyboard
bag. Her consistent denial that she knew nothing of the drugs failed to
persuade the judges presiding over her initial trial and subsequent appeal.
In Bali, a
scrum of Australian journalists crowded outside Kerobokan prison on Friday as
Schapelle’s sister, Mercedes, arrived to meet with officials. A condition of
the 36-year-old’s parole is that she will have to live in Bali with her sister
until 2017.
A crowd of
some 60 reporters, cameramen and photographers were outside the prison Friday,
an AFP reporter at the scene said. Channel Seven has reportedly sent the
biggest crew to Bali, with 17 staff dispatched from Australia and another seven
locals on board.
The press
conference in Jakarta was, however, subject to a delay of around an hour.
“Australian
journos been staking out Indonesian Justice min Amir Syamsuddin all week for
Schapelle announcement. 40 minute delay his revenge?” tweeted The Age’s
correspondent Michael Bachelard at 3:10 p.m., before the press conference
eventually got underway.
Earlier on
Friday, as Mercedes emerged after the visit to Kerobakan, she told reporters
she had received no indication of what Amir’s decision might be.
“We are
just waiting for her to be freed,” she said, adding “please give us some
privacy.”
A media
bidding war is reportedly in full swing in Australia that could see Corby earn
millions of dollars for her tell-all story if she is released.
There have
been claims that the bidders would pay as much as Aus$3 million ($2.7 million),
although The Australian broadsheet said informed sources had told it that a
more realistic price would be Aus$1 million.
Corby, who
has always steadfastly maintained her innocence, had her original sentence cut
substantially. She received several remissions for good behavior and a five-year
reduction from the Indonesian president after an appeal for clemency.
Her parole
bid was a complex, months-long process and speculation began mounting last year
that she was on the verge of release, only for it to again run into problems.
It sped up in the past week after the parole board finally heard her
application.
The process
has been complicated by the fact it is rare for Indonesia to release foreigners
on parole. However Corby’s bid received a boost last month when a French drug
smuggler was given an early release.
While many
in Australia support her early release, some in Indonesia have been against it,
saying it amounts to special treatment.
Eight
lawmakers on Thursday handed a letter of protest to Amir voicing opposition to
Corby getting parole.
They said a
decision to grant her early release would run counter to Jakarta’s tough
anti-drugs laws and would be inappropriate at a time when Australia-Indonesia
ties were at a low after a row over spying.
The Justice
Ministry counts around 150,000 people incarcerated in severely overcrowded
prisons across Indonesia. Estimates of the numbers of drug users in the
Indonesian justice system go as high as 70 percent of the inmate population.
Australian
Twitter users’ reaction to the lead up to the Justice Ministry’s press
conference was generally split between gentle sarcasm directed at the media
furor and support for the Queenslander.
“Are the
Indonesians going to put #Schapelle on a lifeboat and tow her to Australian
waters,” mooted one person, while another offered up the more slightly more
supportive “My thoughts and prayers are with #Schapelle Corby at the moment,
and I wish much comfort and privacy for here in the coming three years.”
Australian Trafficker Corby Released From Prison in Bali
Indonesia grants parole to Australian drug convict
Related Articles:
Australian Trafficker Corby Released From Prison in Bali
Indonesia grants parole to Australian drug convict
No comments:
Post a Comment