SCHAPELLE BOUND FOR AUSTRALIA
Well it’s finally happened, Indonesian parole authorities have had a gutful of Schapelle Corby and her family and will be happy to see the back of her.
With her pending deportation back to Australia scheduled for 27 May, her long time parole officer and counsellor Ni Ketut Sukiati said that the former beauty technician was often hostile and too angry to deal with.
During Schapelle’s time in prison, she struggled to “open up” with her counsellors. She appeared to always be stressed and angry with everyone. This behaviour had a detrimental effect not just on Schapelle, but also on her counsellors, a couple taking leave from work suffering stress themselves.
Even after her release from Kerobokan prison some three or so years ago, the drama and controversy that surrounded schapelle continued to follow her.
Within days of her release, her parole was thrown into jeopardy when Indonesian authorities got wind of a a lucrative paid TV interview with the Seven Network Australia and the luxury accommodation she was living in provided by the network.
And then the ever so vocal sister Mercedes denial of Corby’s wrongdoing again publically raised concerns with authorities, however they decided not to punish Schapelle for her sister’s mistake.
With an intense media circus following her every move, Schapelle had to find ways to conceal her appearance. She would attend parole meetings with a motorcycle helmet that covered her face.
Over the last few years, she appears to be carrying a fuller figure and hasn’t looked healthier.
As for how she spent her time the last few years, authorities have been kept in the dark. For a short time they do have on record that she worked in her brother-in-laws surf shop.
With a resume that details a trial, two appeals, a presidential clemency, books, a tv movie, Australian Court Cases and public friendship meltdowns, it would appear Corby’s arrest has spawned a myriad of twists and turns keeping her story alive in Australia for more than a decade. Now she is once again stepping into the unknown and an uncertain future, when she touches down on Australian soil for the first time in 13 years later this week.
In the backstreets of Kuta, Corby and her boyfriend former drug prisoner Ben Panangian, her sister Mercedes, and her brother Michael have been helping her plan her escape to civilization. To keep the press at bay, they have had security cameras installed around her current residence and sarongs adorn the windows in an attempt to give her privacy.
Corby who by her own admission hates to fly, is terrified. On the morning of the 27th she will have to report to her parole officer for the last time and then Immigration officers will escort her to the airport and make sure she gets on her flight. Her flight details are unknown, and it is possible that they may try and get her on an earlier flight to avoid the media frenzy.
Life as a “free woman” will still have its limitations. It is still too early to know if she will ever be allowed to return to Indonesia, but then again, would she really want too.
Standard procedure states she will be banned from returning for a period of six months.
When she arrives in Australia, Schapelle will live with her mother.
One things for sure, Schapelle has been a constant in our lives for the last 13 years, and as long as she lives and breathes, that interest will just grow.
LETS NOW LOOK AT HOW HER TIME IN BALI UNFOLDED………..
Schapelle Leigh Corby was born and grew up in the Gold Coast, Queensland. The third child of Michael Corby and Rosleigh Rose, she later enrolled in a TAFE beauty therapy course, then worked in the family fish and chip shop.
1998 – Corby marries a Japanese man Kimi Tanaka, in the Japanese surfing town of Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture.
2000 – They separate and Corby returns to Australia.
2003 – The divorce is finalised.
2004 – Corby now 27, arrives at Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, Bali with three companions to celebrate her sister Mercedes birthday. In customs, Corby is found with 4.1 kilograms of marijuana in her bodyboard bag. Corby claims she has no knowledge of the drugs.
2005 – Corby’s trial begins in Denpasar District Court. The prosecution base their case on the customs official testimonies which say Corby claimed ownership of the bodyboard bag.
Corby’s defence begins. Her legal team says the drugs were planted in her bag, and say this is supported by the fact there were no precautions taken to hide the drugs.
Corby is found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Both the defence and prosecutors appeal to the High Court; the defence requesting a retrial and the prosecution life imprisonment. The verdict is televised live in Australia.
Corby sacks her legal team after allegations they request $500,000 from the Australian Government to bribe the Balinese High Court judges. Two days later she re-hires all but two of them.
The high court rules the case be re-opened by the district court, allowing more witnesses to give evidence.
Corby’s sentence is reduced by five years.
2006 – Indonesian Supreme Court overturns her reduced jail time and reinstates her original 20 year sentence. The bodyboard bag and drugs are destroyed on courts orders, an indication the case is permanently closed. The judges reject a final appeal unless extraordinary evidence is presented.
Corby reappears before the Denpasar District Court and her lawyers submit a letter from an Australian Government official stating the CCTV cameras at Sydney International Airport were working October 8, 2005 and could prove the drugs were planted in her bag. Footage is never presented or found.
2006 – Corby releases the autobiography, “My Story”.
2008 – Michael Corby, Schapelle’s father , and who some believe she covered for, dies of cancer.
Indonesia’s Supreme Court rejects Corby’s final appeal, exhausting her legal options for release. Her final option is requesting clemency from Indonesia’s President.
Corby is hospitalised for depression.
2009 – Corby is hospitalised again for depression.
2010 – Corby launches a bid for clemency.
2012 – Indonesia’s Justice and Human Rights Ministry recommends Corby’s jail sentence be slashed by 10 years on humanitarian grounds. Corby, said to be suffering from mental illness and struggling to cope with life inside Bali’s Kerobokan jail.
Two years after she applied to him, President Yudhoyono grants clemency to Corby, granting her a five year reduction in her sentence. It leaves her due for release in mid 2015.
2013 – Corby becomes eligible for parole after serving two thirds of her sentence.
Corby’s application to be paroled is approved by the Bali Justice Ministry.
2014 – Indonesian Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin announces Corby has been granted parole, along with 900 prisoners whose cases were up for review. This policy is accordance with Indonesia law, not trying to seek popularity.
Surrounded by a large media throng, Corby is released but under rules of her parole was not expected to be allowed to return to Australia until July 2017.
2017 – Indonesian authorities decide to deport Corby on 27 May, 2017. She reportedly says she is stressed about her impending return.
