Schapelle Corby’s journey from convicted drug smuggler in Bali to free woman
She became one of Australia’s most recognisable people when she was arrested and then sentenced to 20 years in jail for smuggling marijuana into Bali. So what’s Schapelle Corby up to now?
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Schapelle Corby grew up in relative obscurity on the Gold Coast before she shot to notoriety when she was arrested in Bali for smuggling marijuana in a boogie board bag in 2004.
While the then 27-year-old denied the drugs were hers — and still proclaims her innocence to this day — Corby went through a very public arrest and trial, which ended with her being sentenced to 20 years in a Bali prison.
Her name and face are now etched in Australian history, with her plight followed by millions and dividing many regarding her guilt or innocence.
She may be known to the younger generation as just a reality TV star, appearing on SAS Australia and Dancing With The Stars, but the Queenslander has faced some tough times.
We take a look back at her early life, arrest, imprisonment and what she’s been doing since her release following nine years in Kerobokan Prison.
Early years
Schapelle Leigh Corby was born on July 10, 1977 in the Gold Coast suburb of Tugun, to her mum Rosleigh Rose and dad Michael Corby.
Her parents divorced in 1979 and she has five half and full siblings, including her sister Mercedes who was one of her biggest supporters in Bali.
Corby left school in Year 11 and later enrolled into a beautician’s course at TAFE in 2004 but she didn’t complete it because her dad was diagnosed with cancer.
She helped look after him while working at a Coles supermarket.
When she was 21, three years after meeting Japanese tourist named Kimi Tanak on the Gold Coast, they got married in 1998 but they separated a couple of years later and divorced by 2003.
She ended up travelling to Bali in October 2004 for a holiday and that is where her life changed forever.
Bali drug charges
Corby, who was travelling with her half-brother James and two friends to Bali on October 8, 2004 was stopped at Denpasar Airport where 4.2kg of marijuana is found in her boogie board bag.
She denies the drugs are her but was arrested and charged with drug smuggling. She is kept in custody until her trial starts in Denpasar District Court in January 2005, where her defence team claims the drugs were planted in her bags, suggesting it was baggage handlers in Australia.
In her appeal to the court, Corby said: “I would like to say to the prosecutors I cannot admit to a crime I did not commit. And to the judges, my life at the moment is in your hands but I would prefer if my life was in your hearts.”
But after an intense months-long trial, Corby was on May 27, 2005 found guilty of importing drugs into Indonesia and was sentenced to 20 years in jail in Kerobokan Prison, as well as fined $13,875.
The verdict was broadcast live on Australian television across a majority of networks, where her breakdown and her mother and sister’s furious outburst were all captured worldwide.
From the next month, Corby began an appeals process which would take years. In March 2008, her final appeal is rejected by Indonesia’s Supreme Court, leading to Corby being hospitalised for depression. It was also around that time her dad Michael died from cancer.
In 2010, Corby applied to then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for clemency, asking for her sentence to be reduced or her conviction quashed, saying she is suffering from depression while in jail.
Just over two years later, the request was granted and five years was cut from her sentence.
She was granted parole in February 2014 and released after nine years in prison but had to stay in Bali to serve out her parole so wasn’t able to return home to Australia until May 2017.
Life in prison
Corby’s imprisonment led to her state of mind deteriorating as she continued to appeal her sentence. During her incarceration:
* She was treated for depression and said she felt so low at one stage, she wanted to die
* Her dad Michael dies from cancer in 2008
* She worked on an autobiography with author Kathryn Bonella called My Story, and it was released in November 2006.
* She met and falls in love with former fellow Kerobokan inmate Ben Panangian.
* She released a second book called No More Tomorrows: The Compelling True Story of an Innocent Woman Sentenced to Twenty Years in a Hellhole Bali Prison in 2008.
Freedom
She moved back to her hometown to be with her family in 2017 and since then has been finding her feet both personally and professionally.
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph in 2019, Corby revealed she doesn’t feel like she needs to defend herself from criticism anymore.
“It’s so amazing that I’m actually here. I did not think I would actually be able to leave — like I would die in there,” Corby said at the time.
“I have some really dark times but I have a great family to help push me through.”
She also revealed how she deals with the constant public scrutiny and said even getting a job is difficult and how she has changed her travelling habits since.
She applied for the dole when she returned to Australia in 2017, and later became a reality TV star appearing in SAS Australia in 2020, and Dancing With The Stars: All Stars in 2021.
She is now making and selling clocks via Instagram, constantly posting about ‘Schapelle’s Epoxy Resin Clocks’.
In an Instagram post to mark the new year, Corby set herself personal goals stating “more exercise, more self love and more me” among other things.
In a video she sent a video to influencer Winnie Blues in July 2022 using personalised message service memmo.me (where celebrities get paid to send messages to fans), Corby offered an insight into her life, as well as some advice.
“Go for a walk every day. Don’t stop moving your body. Be kind to yourself, you’re your own best friend, you live in your head 24/7 so make it a nice place. Never be negative towards yourself. Be honest and caring and uplifting,” she said.
She has said her dog Lucille, nicknamed Lulu, is her best friend who constantly features on her Instagram account, where she has almost 160K followers and shares parts of her everyday life, including getting her learner’s licence.
And in August 2022, Corby posted about her break up with her long-time partner Panangian and is now looking for love.
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