Schapelle Corby is looking forward to ‘the sand between her toes” and a “cleansing swim” at her favourite beach when she returns home to Australia.
Corby’s plea for clemency was approved by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday and her family is hopeful she could be back home by August.
A letter confirming the clemency was delivered to Corby in Bali’s Kerobokan prison last night.
Related: Schapelle Corby could be home by August
Corby’s mother Rosleigh Rose said her daughter was looking forward to a “cleansing swim” at her favourite beach when she returns to Australia.
“The sand between her toes on the Gold Coast, a lovely swim on the Gold Coast in the water at Tugun,” Mrs Rose told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
“It’s a relief off our shoulders. Every day we wait. I think it hasn’t sunk in yet. I can’t believe it. It feels like I want to bawl. We’ve been up before. We just have to keep calm.
“I just keep thinking… July, August. I will be going over in July and I’m going to be bringing her home.”
The government has cut five years from Corby’s 20-year sentence, which would see her released in 2017.
A previous two-year cut for good behaviour and other remissions could mean she ends up serving just 11 years, being eligible for release in 2015.
Parole could bring her release date forward again, potentially to as early as August this year.
There have been some concerns for Corby’s mental state over the past few years, and she petitioned the Indonesian government for clemency on humanitarian grounds on grounds of mental illness.
Rose said she isn’t too concerned about her daughter as she believes being back at home with her family will cure her.
“She will be staying at our home,” she said. “She will need care. We will have to see how she’s coping.
“We will have to get proper medical advice. As long as she has family that loves her, that are around her and will be patient (she will be all right).”
Corby was arrested in October 2004 at Denpasar’s airport. She was found to have 4.2kg of marijuana in her boogie board bag but denied all knowledge of the drugs.
Related: Schapelle’s descent into madness
She was convicted and sentenced in 2005 and has been in Kerobokan Jail ever since.
She appealed, but the Indonesia Supreme Count confirmed her conviction and sentence.
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