Sentences reduced ... drug traffickers Schapelle Corby and Renae Lawrence (inset) have each had one month cut from their jail terms by the Indonesian Government to mark Christmas / Reuters

From correspondents in Jakarta - >December 25, 2006

THE families of convicted Australian drug traffickers Schapelle Corby and Renae Lawrence have welcomed a one-month cut to each of their jail terms but say they wish it could be more.

Hell behind bars: Schapelle Corby was jailed for smuggling 4.1kg of cannabis into Bali.

AAP - December 26, 2006

SCHAPELLE Corby and Renae Lawrence have each had a month cut from their jail sentences.

Australian drug convicts Schapelle Corby and Renae Lawrence have each had one month cut from their sentences by the Indonesian government.

The pair are each serving 20 years — Corby for smuggling 4.1 kg of cannabis into Bali and Lawrence for trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin to Australia.

The reduction was announced at Kerobokan prison, where the ministry of human rights and justice decrees were stuck onto the walls.

Prison governor Ilham Djaya said they both deserved remission because they had behaved well and, as prisoners, it was their right.

Lawrence is the only member of the Bali Nine to get remission.
Her fellow drug smugglers are not eligible because they are serving life terms or are sentenced to death.

Families hope for more leniency

The families of the convicted drug traffickers have welcomed the one-month cut but wish it could be more.

Lawrence's mother Beverley Waterman had family and friends over for Christmas lunch at the family's home in Wallsend, near
Newcastle.

"Any remission is greatly accepted but, obviously, I'm hoping that she gets a lot more of them," Ms Waterman said.

She said she had spoken to her daughter who was in "pretty good spirits".

"It's very sad (to not have her home for Christmas)," Ms Waterman said.

"Obviously, she's very sad as well but we just make the best of the situation."

Schapelle Corby's family in Queensland also wished their loved one could be home sooner.

Some family members had visited her in prison over the weekend and would do so again in the days after Christmas.

Her sister Mercedes, staying in Australia, welcomed the sentence reduction but said the family hoped Corby would be released on appeal.

"We're not thinking there's 20 years or there's 17 to go — we just hope she'll be home soon," Mercedes said.

"But it's sad because we're not with Schapelle today."

Corby is due for release in July 2024 while Lawrence's sentence runs until July 2025.

Lawrence has accepted her sentence while Corby is still appealing her conviction.

Remission for prisoners in Indonesia is granted twice a year: every independence day in August and on holy days according to the convict's religion.

The Indonesian and Australian governments are drafting a prisoner exchange program.

It was due to have been signed this month but was postponed until next year.

If the agreement is signed, the prisoners can serve their sentence in their own country.