Schapelle Corby has broken down in her first live TV interview since her release from a Balinese prison in 2014, opening up about the intense toll her drug conviction has had on her mental health, while insisting she is still innocent.
The 42-year-old appeared on Studio 10 on Wednesday morning in an interview to promote her updated memoir, My Story, but quickly became emotional and upset after watching a video clip recounting her time spent in prison.
“I didn’t think that I’d have to watch that. It’s very hard,” Schapelle said as she fought back tears.
In 2005, Schapelle was found to have imported 4.2kg of cannabis into Bali, which was smuggled in a boogie board. She was sentenced to 20 years in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan prison.
After an unsuccessful appeal, she begged the President of Indonesia to grant her clemency on the grounds of mental illness. She was given a five-year sentence reduction, and was later released in 2014 on parole. She was deported from Bali in 2017 and has been living in Australia ever since.
Schapelle said her experience in Kerobokan was deeply traumatic and left her “catatonic”, as she suffered from severe mental health issues that still affect her to this day.
“I lived in my brain. The brain is very powerful and I could not control anything. I couldn’t eat. [Her sister] Mercedes had to come in and sleep in the prison a few times with me. I was catatonic. It’s when your body shuts down and people have to massage your hands and feet, but my mind was so busy,” Schapelle said.
She says she is currently undergoing extensive psychological treatment.
“I have a really great psychologist and psychiatrist and medication, and also writing this [book] was a really great journey for me, but very difficult.”
Schapelle Corby broke down on Studio 10 this morning.
(Credit: Channel 10)
The 42-year-old opened up about her battle with mental illness.
(Credit: Channel 10)Schapelle insists she is still innocent and is working with an activist group to clear her name.
“I have these phenomenal, dedicated people called The Expendable Project and they have spent years seeking freedom of information [requests] and documents and it proves what I say about myself,” she said.
“I think all the evidence is there, I just want to live at the moment and move forward.”
When asked who she thinks set her up, Schapelle replied: “I don’t know … There’s nothing I can say to save myself.”
She also bemoaned the fact that she is referred to as a “convicted drug smuggler” in media coveage.
“I’m Schapelle Corby the drug trafficker. I see it in every headline. Whenever there is an article that just says ‘Schapelle Corby’, I acknowledge the absensce of the [phrase] drug smuggler.”
The cover of Schapelle’s updated memoir, My Story.
(Credit: Supplied)
Schapelle Corby breaking down in court as her sentence is handed down.
(Credit: Getty)The legality over any profit Schapelle makes from her updated book is murky. Under Australia’s proceeds of crime laws, it is illegal to profit from criminal activity, which includes any money made from writing books.
When Schapelle first released her book in 2006, a $250,000 payment was made to an Indonesian bank account controlled by her brother-in-law and was spotted by Australian police. She was then ordered to pay $128,800 to the federal government.
WATCH BELOW: Mercedes comforts her sister Schapelle as she recovers from surgery. Story continues after video.
She was grilled about the topic on Studio 10 and asked about where any profit she makes from this new book will do, but said she was “not sure” where the money would go.
“It’s not about money, it’s about me finishing my story,” she said.
“I am not contracted to do any media publicity for this. I’m not sure (where the profit will go), I don’t know. All I know is I needed to finish this book.”
