Spying scandal muddles Corby parole bid Frustrated: Schapelle Corby's parole application has been delayed by politics. Photo: Jason Childs For Schapelle Corby, a diplomatic spat between Indonesia and Australia could not have come at a worse time. With a parole application in August this year, Corby and her family entered a bureaucratic labyrinth. And the revelation of phone-tapping by Australia against Indonesia's ruling clique in 2009 has only made the situation worse. But after months of frustration, there are signs that her long-awaited parole may be just around the corner. Since Corby's arrest in 2004 for attempting to smuggle 8.2 kilograms of marijuana in her boogie board bag, her case has been a hobby horse for politicians and anti-drug groups in Indonesia keen to strike blows against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's allegedly pro-Australian bias. In May 2012, when the President granted a five-year cut to Corby's 20-year sentence, he became the target of furious opposition. But by the time Corby finally made her parole application in August, that outcry had died down. There was no backlash as details emerged of the conditions she must fulfil: to live with sister Mercedes and brother-in-law Wayan Widiartha in Bali, to work in his surf shop designing bikinis, and to stay until March 2018. This last fact pointed to her desperation to be out of Kerobokan prison, because taking parole adds to her time outside Australia - it makes her ineligible to gain further sentence cuts for good behaviour, and requires her to serve 12 months extra for "guidance." On September 10 her family paid the 100 million rupiah fine imposed as part of her sentence and passed the case to Indonesia's bureaucrats. At first, all went smoothly. On October 10, the Bali prisons department confirmed that Corby had fulfilled all the requirements. It sent the paperwork to Jakarta. In Kerobokan, the news lifted Corby's spirits. Guards reported that she was spending more time outside her cell, socialising with other prisoners. And then nothing. For weeks the corrections office in Jakarta denied it had received the paperwork. When it did acknowledge receipt, on October 29, a spokesman used words that strike fear in the heart of anyone familiar with Indonesian bureaucracy: "It does not follow the existing regulations." Part of Corby's application was a letter from the Australian consulate in Bali guaranteeing her good behaviour. It was on a form provided by Kerobokan prison but officials in Jakarta demanded it be reprinted on letterhead. The Australian embassy requested exact instructions. But between October 29 and December 13 it received none. Meanwhile a stand-off developed between the corrections and immigration offices - both parts of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights - over the status of a foreign parolee. On November 18 the spying revelations dropped. Law and Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin, who will ultimately approve or reject Corby's parole application, agreed that there might be a political cost for granting parole, but has insisted that her case will be decided according to the law, not politics. Others are not such sticklers. "I think the government should consider the spying allegations," said Aziz Syamsuddin, the deputy head of the Indonesian parliament's Commission III, which covers legal affairs. Perhaps it might even be possible to cancel the presidential clemency. But from mid-December Corby's case has showed signs of renewed life. In Bali, prison governor Farid Junaedi announced he was recommending Corby for a two-month sentence reduction for good behaviour. In Jakarta, a corrections spokesman confirmed that his department was discussing the matter with counterparts in immigration. And Australia's Foreign Affairs Department confirmed it had received instructions on December 13 and would send an amended letter, on letterhead, "in coming days." The next step is a ministerial signature. This allows for one more political intervention, one more chance for Indonesia's opponents of Corby to campaign against her parole. Prison sources say her good mood of September and October has soured from waiting. "She stays in her cell almost all the time," one says. She doesn't socialise much ... she's back to her usual self.