Schapelle Leigh Corby is planning to request parole.

Sisterly love: Mercedes Corby speaks to journalists after visiting her younger sister Schapelle Leigh Corby in Kerobokan Penitentiary. BD/Zul Trio Anggono

After receiving a five-year sentence reduction, Schapelle Leigh Corby is planning to request parole.

Iskandar Nawing, Corby’s lawyer, said during a visit to Kerobokan Penitentiary that the procedure would be complex and time consuming.

“We should check remissions she has received during her incarceration,” the lawyer said.

“Indonesia has no law that allows a foreign citizen to request parole. But, as her lawyer, I will do my best to convince the legal authority to accept that,” the lawyer said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed the clemency papers on May 15.

Corby was sentenced to 20 years in prison on May 27, 2005, after the Denpasar District Court declared her guilty of attempting to smuggle 4.1 kilograms of marijuana in a body-board bag when traveling from Australia to Bali in October 2004. 

Later that year, the Bali High Court approved her appeal and reduced her sentence to 15 years, but a year later the Supreme Court overturned this and reinstated the 20-year prison term. Judges at the Supreme Court based their decision on the grounds that marijuana was categorized as a dangerous drug in Indonesia. 

Kerobokan warden I Gusti Ngurah Wiratna stated that it would be difficult for a foreign citizen to apply for parole under the current legal system. “It should be coordinated with so many institutions, including the immigration office,” said the warden.

Corby’s sister Mercedes could not hide her happiness and relief to hear the good news about her sister’s clemency.

“Our family would like to say thank you to the Indonesian President. We are now hoping to get more information about possible parole for Schapelle and we hope to get positive news on that,” said Mercedes.

Mercedes added that her sister was happy to receive the news.

In addition to Corby, the President also granted 50-year-old Peter Achim Grodman, a German national, a two-year reduction of his five-year prison sentence.

Amzer Simanjuntak, spokesperson of Denpasar District Court, said the letters of clemency for both Corby and Grodman arrived at the court on May 21.

Grodman was sentenced to five years in prison for illegally trafficking six plastic bags containing 4.9 grams of marijuana.

Officials at Ngurah Rai’s Customs and Excise Office arrested Grodman in March 2010. On Sept. 1, the Denpasar District Court sentenced him to 1.6 years in prison.

But, the Supreme Court increased his sentence to five years and an Rp 800 million (US$86,400) fine or six additional months in prison.

“Our family would like to say thank you to Indonesian President [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono]. We are now hoping to get more information about possible parole for Schapelle and we hope to get positive news on that.”