Australian trafficker Corby released from prison in Bali
Corby's case has been the subject of huge public interest back home ever since her arrest in Bali.
Indonesia (AFP) - Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby, hiding her face from a media scrum, was hustled out of prison Monday to start the next chapter of her troubled life after more than nine years behind bars in Bali.
The 36-year-old covered her features with a scarf and hat as she was released on parole and ushered into a minibus waiting outside Kerobokan jail on the Indonesian resort island, as camera crews and photographers fought to get a shot of her.
Corby s case has been the subject of huge public interest back home ever since her 2004 arrest in Bali, a favorite holiday spot for Australians, with marijuana stashed in her surfing gear.
Her steadfast proclamations of innocence and well-documented fight with mental illness in prison generated much sympathy in Australia. She was often depicted there as the victim of a conspiracy or of unfair treatment by Indonesia’s supposedly corrupts judicial system.
Her release received blanket coverage by Australian TV networks Monday, which broadcast every moment live to the millions who have followed her case for years.
After she was freed, Corby visited government officials who will oversee her parole in Indonesia -- where she must remain until 2017 -- before being whisked away by a black SUV to a luxury resort and spa in the popular Seminyak district.
A bidding war has heated up in recent days for her first post-jail interview. A second black car containing a TV crew raced into the resort after Corby, while the rest of the following media pack were barred from entering.
As expected the former beauty school student did not comment, but one official said she seemed upset.
"We asked her how she was. She cried and said she was still feeling traumatised due to all the journalists," said Agung Bagus Kusimantara from the Bali prosecutors office.
The media have been camped outside Kerobokan jail for the past week in anticipation of her release, with one Australian television network alone having reportedly dispatched 17 staff.
In Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Corby s release would be "a happy day for her family and supporters".
"One aspect of a long saga, one chapter in a long saga is closed," he told reporters.
Champagne and cheers
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At her mother s home in Loganlea in the northeastern state of Queensland, the sound of cheers and corks popping could be heard from the backyard as the family celebrated.
Indonesian Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin announced on Friday that Corby had been granted parole following a months-long process that repeatedly ran into bureaucratic hurdles.
While her parole has been welcomed in Australia, it drew protests from Indonesian lawmakers and an anti-drugs group who said it contradicted the country s tough anti-narcotics laws.
Jakarta on Monday again defended granting Corby parole, with presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah reiterating the government had been following the letter of the law.
"The leniency we have granted is actually based on a legal assessment," he said.
And he insisted the government was still "against narcotics... there s no change in the government s stance".
Corby will not be able to return to Australia until 2017. Her sentence ends in 2016 and then she will be required to stay for another year to comply with the conditions of her parole.
Despite having first headed for the luxury Seminyak resort, during her parole Corby is expected to live on the resort island with her sister Mercedes, who has a Balinese husband.
As part of her parole conditions, she will have to report to authorities on Bali regularly and cannot travel to other parts of Indonesia without prior permission.
Corby, who has always insisted that the 4.1 kilos (nine pounds) of marijuana found in her body board bag were planted, will emerge a changed woman after years in Kerobokan prison.
Prisoners typically live side by side in overcrowded cells where drug abuse, fighting between inmates and beatings by jail wardens are reportedly common.
She has suffered from mental health problems in prison and needed hospital treatment for depression.
Corby was convicted and jailed for 20 years in 2005.
The end of her sentence was brought forward to 2016 after she received several remissions for good behaviour, and a five-year cut following an appeal for clemency to the Indonesian president.
