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Corby agrees to no interview “at this stage”

Schapelle Corby has agreed to not to hold any interviews “at this stage” after a meeting with parole officers.

2014-02-15_0039After days of speculation and a media circus, the Schapelle Corby interview with Seven is off -for now.

News Corp reports she has agreed to not to hold any interviews “at this stage” after a meeting with parole officers at her luxury villa.

Parole officer Ketut Sukiati visited the villa, said that Corby had asked why she could not be interviewed.

Ms Sukiati said she told Corby she was reiterating a message from the deputy justice minister and Corby agreed not to do any interviews at this stage.

She said Corby told her “OK”.

Parole officers spent less than an hour inside talking with Corby, her sister Mercedes and brother-in-law Wayan Widyartha.

The news follows Sunday Night‘s Mike Willesee telling media “I’m confident Schapelle won’t do or say anything to cause public concern.

“She’s abiding by all the conditions of her parole and I’m sure she will continue to do so.”

Seven is rumoured to have offered $2m for the interview as well as payment for her accommodation and a security team, as well as filming Mercedes Corby’s own denial of the price-tag while criticising Nine’s telemovie.

Indonesian authorities have also advised her to move from the luxury villa to the home of Mercedes Corby but the family felt moving to the compound in Kuta would cause unease to the neighbours because of the media.

Balinese authorities were also offended by the veil worn during meetings after her release.

It’s unclear what the revelations mean for Sunday Night after a week of rumours, denials and ongoing negotiations.

Meanwhile ABC reports a crowd of mostly men from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and other hardline groups gathered in the capital Jakarta yesterday demanding Corby’s parole be revoked, saying the justice minister “should be ashamed” for green-lighting her freedom.

“This person brings marijuana into our country and is freed? That is simply unjust. Where are our rights?” senior FPI member Haji Awit Masyhuri said.

“She should have been given the death penalty – all drug traffickers should,” he said, adding that the Indonesian government had shown special treatment for Corby because she was Australian.

14 Responses

  1. @Jennome – I agree that she’s having a rough time with the media but it’s not correct to say that none of it is her fault. Firstly, she was caught importing over 4kg of cannabis into Indonesia. Secondly, she and her family decided to use the media to stir up public interest in her situation in the hope of getting the Australian govt to put pressure on Indonesia for more lenient treatment. That was ill-advised and backfired big time.

    By all means feel sorry for her, but she is far from innocent regarding the situation that she is in.

  2. I think it’s about time the entire media contingent from Australia came home and left the Corbys alone. No doubt this will all start again if, and when, she finally arrives back in Australia.

    None of this crap is her fault, and I’m starting to feel pretty sorry for her. She might be living a lot more comfortably, but she’s still in prison, no matter where she moves to.

    The Indonesians aren’t much better than our lot, why don’t they all just back off. There’s no news left in this story.

  3. What has played out here are management related issues. Signing off and spending of large sums of company money chasing this and they thought that Indonesia would sit calmly by and allow their justice system to be exposed to ridicule?
    The real focus here is that somebody at Seven was stupid enough to think this idea ever had a chance of flying. These are not responsible management actions – clear and simple – especially with the cost focus now firmly on an ageing “old world” TV industry.

  4. Whatever modicum of public sympathy Corby had in the collective mind of Australia seems to have well and truly evaporated during the circus of the past week, whether she really truly did it or not.

  5. I don’t think the “ambulance chaser” tag makes sense in this case. The media as a whole have been waiting for the day she would be released. Mike was hired by the party who bought the story, and now he’s there in the middle of a media circus. It’s not a good look, and I’m sure he’s very aware of that, but it doesn’t really take away from his skill as a journalist.

  6. Corby can’t say she didn’t do it if she showed remorse to get parole, which is usual.

    And the Indonesians have gag order conditions placed on parolees to stop them criticising the justice and prison systems and the government in general.

    So unless she confesses there is no point in the interview, and I can’t ever see her doing that.

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