Pubdate: Wed, 05 Feb 2014
Source: Gulf Times (Qatar)
Copyright: Gulf Times Newspaper, 2014
Contact:  http://www.gulf-times.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3835
Note: from AFP/Jakarta

JAKARTA TO DECIDE ON AUSSIE TRAFFICKER PAROLE IN DAYS

High-profile Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby will learn 
within days whether she will be granted parole from an Indonesian 
jail following a lengthy bid to win early release, a minister said yesterday.

Indonesian Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin said the 36-year-old's 
application was among a large batch he would decide on by today 
although he stressed she would not get "special treatment".

Corby, whose case has attracted huge publicity in Australia, was 
sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2005 after being caught trying to 
smuggle 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into the resort island of Bali.

She lodged her bid for early release from jail in Bali months ago but 
the process has moved along slowly due to bureaucratic wrangling and 
the complexities of the Indonesian legal system.

However a justice ministry parole board in Jakarta heard her 
application in private last week.

Syamsuddin said the board's assessment was among 1,700 parole 
applications he would examine this week. "I promise, God willing, 
that I will process all 1,700 within the next three days," he told 
reporters in Jakarta. He did not indicate what his decision might be 
on the Australia's case, although he said: "Corby will not get 
special treatment.

"As long as she fulfils all the requirements and has the 
recommendation from the parole board... she will get her rights."

He has previously said that he does not oppose granting Corby early 
release, however the key factor in her case is whether she receives a 
recommendation from the parole board.

Authorities on Bali have already recommended her early release but 
the process slowed down in recent months.

However hopes rose when a French drug smuggler was granted parole 
last month. Michael Blanc is one of the few foreigners to have been 
freed on parole in recent years. Corby has always maintained her innocence.

Her original 20-year sentence was reduced significantly after she 
received several remissions for good behaviour and a cut of five 
years from the president.

If granted parole, Corby would still be bound to live on Bali and 
obliged to report regularly to
authorities. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D