Schapelle Corby moves closer to freedom Schapelle Corby to be released? If all goes well, Schapelle Corby could potentially be free by early November. Indonesia correspondent Michael Bachelard explains. PT1M51S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2vb6o 620 349 October 10, 2013 - 6:37PM SCHAPELLE Corby has taken another step closer to release from prison after her parole bid was signed off by the Justice Ministry office in Bali and forwarded to Jakarta. Bali's head of division for correctional facilities, Sunar Agus has confirmed that he and his committee of seven had signed the parole application on Thursday, nine years and two days after Corby's arrest in 2004. "We saw no reason to deny it because the application was all according to the framework we have to place," Mr Sunar said. Schappelle Corby plans to live with her sister Mercedes and brother-in-law Wayan Widyartha in their Kuta compound. We presented our results to Kompyang Adnyana, the head of the Bali Justice office and he agreed with our view, and he also signed it. The documents were sent to Jakarta and are likely to arrive on Friday or Monday. The sign-off means the justice department has verified that Corby has fulfilled all the requirements for parole, including behavioural, living arrangements, and proof that she is not wanted by Interpol for any other offences. Corby plans to live with her sister Mercedes and brother-in-law Wayan Widyartha in their Kuta compound, and design bikinis for Mr Wayan's business. She will be required to stay in Bali until the end of her sentence in September 2017. However the parole process still has a way to run in Jakarta, and could still take some weeks to complete. The Jakarta department has a 14 working day (almost three week) deadline, during which the Director-General of Prisons must hold a hearing, and Ms Corby's application must also be approved by the country's Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin. The minister, who is also the immigration minister, has not foreshadowed any problems with the application - Mr Syamsuddin met Ms Corby in Kerobokan prison earlier this year and said there were only "technical" impediments to parole. She still also has one "technical" hurdle to clear - the director general of the immigration department in Jakarta must give her a visa to live on while on parole. A recent law allows it, but until her case, this law has been untested. But there are also potential political hurdles. Ms Corby's case may still attract the political ire of anti-drug and justice campaigners in Jakarta, who argue that she is receiving special treatment because of diplomatic pressure by the Australian government. Recent reports suggest Mr Syamsuddin may be called before Commission III of the Indonesian parliament, which scrutinises legal affairs, to explore if the process for the former Gold Coast beauty student has been unusual. The committee has said they will ask for comparative figures from other cases to see if there has been "discrimination" towards her. Corby is known in Indonesia as the "marijuana queen" after 4.2kg of the drug was found in her boogie board bag in 2004 at Bali airport. She was sentenced to 20 years in jail, reduced to 15 after the president approved her clemency bid. But her case is almost as controversial in Indonesia as in Australia. A strong political campaign and a court case were launched against president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when he granted Corby a five-year sentence reduction in 2012. Justice Minister Mr Amir told AAP recently he saw no impediment to Corby being granted parole, saying, "I couldn't prevent someone from getting their rights just because I'm afraid of critics.