Nightclub promoter returns home after Bali jail stint
Former Melbourne nightclub promoter William Cabantog hits out at the media as he prepares to fly home to Australia after spending a year in Bali’s toughest prison for cocaine possession.
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Former Melbourne party boy William Cabantog is on his way back to Australia after spending a year in Bali’s toughest prison for cocaine possession.
After spending two-nights in an Immigration detention cell and testing negative to COVID-19, Cabantog is heading for Jakarta where he will spend a night in an airport cell before flying to Perth.
Masked and wearing a black T-shirt bearing the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” maxim and the word “redemption”, Cabantog, 36, kept the media at bay by attempting to ram them with his trolley carrying his luggage plus a souvenir-style shopping bag.
The Australian man remained tight-lipped and was flanked by two Immigration officials.
“Cabantog was deported through Jakarta and he will next fly to Perth on Thursday, Eko Budianto, the head of Indonesia’s Law and Human Rights Ministry in Bali, said.
“During transit he will be placed in a detention room in the airport while waiting for the flight to Australia.”
Cabantog and his partner in crime David Van Iersel, who was released in April and is now living in Perth, were arrested in possession of 1.12 grams of cocaine during police raids on the Lost City nightclub in Bali’s trendy Canggu in July last year.
In January, the two men were found guilty of possessing narcotics – a crime that could have landed then both a maximum sentence of 12 years behind bars.
They were both found guilty of being drug addicts and victims of the narcotics trade.
Cabantog was sentenced to one year in prison, reduced for time served while Van Iersel, 38, was handed a nine-month sentence.
In a recent video statement to journalists, Cabantog said: “My name is William Roy Astilero Cabantog and I have been in Le Paz for the past 12 months.”
With a newly acquired American accent, Cabantog referred to the infamous Kerobokan prison as ‘Le Paz’ – a possible reference to San Pedro jail - the world’s most bizarre prison that functions as its own ghetto in the cocaine capital of Bolivia.
“I suffer from PTSC, depression and anxiety and they (the prison) have provided some psychologists, some psychiatrists, therapists on a weekly basis and a rehabilitation program,” Cabantog said while wearing a T-shirt with an image of himself behind bars and the word “hope”.
He admitted that he had lived a drug-free “healthy and clean lifestyle” in Kerobokan prison, which is known for the nefarious availability of drugs to inmate.
He thanked the Australian consulate in Bali for helping to ensure a constant flow of his medications.
‘Cocaine’ Cabantog was a popular fixture on Melbourne’s nightclub scene. He enjoyed fast boats, fine wine and late-night parties with models and A-listers but apparently came in low on the prison pecking order. He was reportedly arrogant, antagonistic to other inmates and rejected prison projects.
One prison insider – who wishes to remain nameless – said the Aussie was not well-liked and exercised alone to maintain his buff physique. He meditated both inside his cell and at church.
“He doesn’t study self-help books or do any education courses. He has (a) very bad attitude and is rude (to) almost every person, especially Indonesians. No one likes him including Matt (Norman from the Bali 9). Will is always provoking fights,” the inmate said.
It’s a far cry from last December when he broke down and wept inside the Denpasar District Court when the prosecutor called for a sentence of 18 months’ jail.
That single night of snorting cocaine with Van Iersel, who managed the club and gave his mate free drinks as a reward for bringing paying customers to the club, landed them in court facing a maximum sentence of 12 years.
Originally published as Nightclub promoter returns home after Bali jail stint