In News on Monday 10th Apr, 2017

Another blow for Schapelle Corby as her sentence comes to an end

A long 12 years for convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby is set to come to an end when her parole ends on May 27.

The 39 year-old Gold Coast woman was infamously convicted of smuggling over four kilograms of marijuana into Bali in a boogie board bag in 2005, and sentenced to 20 years.

Corby spent the next nine years in Kerobokan Prison, and in May 2012 was granted a five-year sentence reduction after using the grounds of mental illness to petition the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for clemency in 2010.

In February 2014, Corby was released on parole on the condition that she cannot leave Indonesia until May 2017 – next month.

However, as her sentence and parole comes to an end, Corby has been dealt another blow with the news that she faces a six month ban and could be banned from Indonesia for life after she is deported back to Australia.

This ban casts doubt upon the future of her relationship with her new partner Ben Panangian, whom Corby met as an inmate at Kerobakan Prison.

Panangian’s own criminal history of drug offences means that it is likely he will face significant challenges if he wants to travel to Australia to spend time with Corby.

A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told the Daily Telegraph that there would be no special leniency for Panangian and that normal process would apply, indicating that the relationship may be doomed before it has begun.