Indonesia Paroles Australian Drug Smuggler

FILE - Schapelle Leigh Corby, a 27 year-old Australian arrested last year on drug charges, speaks to her lawyer before appearing in court in Denpasar, on the resort island of Bali, January 27, 2005.

Indonesia has granted parole to a convicted Australian drug trafficker, whose story generated huge public sympathy and publicity in her home country.

Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin told reporters on Friday that Schapelle Corby was among a batch of prisoners whose parole applications had been finalized because she had fulfilled the requirements as set out in the law.

Corby was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2005 for trying to smuggle four kilograms of marijuana onto the resort island of Bali. Drug trafficking is punishable by death in Indonesia.

Indonesia's Justice Ministry declined to say when Corby would be released from prison.