Media frenzy greets convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby on her return to Australia after 13 years in Indonesia
Corby was released early in 2014 but was required to remain on Bali for three years under the conditions of her parole
Australian Schapelle Corby battled a media storm as she returned home from Bali on Sunday 12 years after her conviction for drug trafficking, in a dramatic end to a saga that captivated her homeland.
The beauty school dropout hit Australian headlines when she was arrested in 2004 at Bali airport aged 27 with several kilograms of hashish stashed in her surfing gear, and was jailed the following year for 20 years.
Her sentence was cut due to regular remissions and after an appeal to the president, and she served nine years behind bars. She was released early in 2014 but was required to remain on Bali for three years under the conditions of her parole.
Corby and her sister Mercedes concocted an elaborate plan to avoid the cameras after they touched down in the eastern city of Brisbane early on Sunday morning, using multiple vehicle convoys to confuse the media when they departed the airport.
A member of her security team read out a family statement at the airport, where they expressed their “gratefulness and relief that this morning we mark Schapelle Corby’s return to Australia”.