Renae Lawrence’s rocky prison romance revealed
When Bali Nine heroin courier Renae Lawrence walks free, she will be leaving behind the lover who has helped her get through her time in jail. But their romance hasn’t always been rosy.
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When Bali Nine heroin courier Renae Lawrence walks out of Bangli jail on Wednesday, she will be leaving behind the girlfriend who has sustained her for the past few years.
Prison insiders say that for several years behind bars Lawrence has been in a relationship with a fellow prisoner who is currently in the same jail.
Agus Erna Wijayanti, 38, known as Erna, is a fellow drugs prisoner in Bangli jail, in the northeast of Bali, where Lawrence has also been held for the past four years.
And prison insiders say that for the past few days, as Lawrence counts down the hours to freedom, Erna has been spoiling her like a child.
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The couple first met in 2012 when Erna was sentenced on drugs charges and sent to Kerobokan jail, where Lawrence was already seven years into her sentence.
Then when Lawrence was moved from Kerobokan prison, after an alleged plot to murder guards was uncovered, she and Erna ended up together as inmates at Bangli jail in mid 2014.
Erna was released on parole in September of 2014 after serving a four years and four months sentence for possession of 0.16 grams of methamphetamine.
But less than two months later she was back inside after being arrested outside the jail with 0.24 grams of methamphetamine.
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At the time she was arriving to visit Lawrence and police alleged that she had medicine and a prescription for Lawrence. When she was searched police alleged they found a small bag of methamphetamine hidden in her scarf.
She was sentenced to five years and six months.
At the time Erna told police she was working on processing Lawrence’s application for parole. Earlier that year Schapelle Corby had been granted parole and released and, having served the balance of her sentence, Lawrence too was eligible for parole.
But her application was denied because she did not have an Indonesian relative to act as her guarantor.
Lawrence and Erna are among just 11 female prisoners at the small Bangli jail, which houses just 59 inmates in total. But jail insiders say they do not share a cell.
On one occasion last year the Jail’s Governor moved Lawrence to nearby Klungkung jail for several days after a disagreement between the pair over Erna’s former boyfriend visiting her in jail.
There was a “debate” between Lawrence and Erna and as punishment the jail governor decided to move Lawrence. She apologised and was allowed back.
Lawrence is a well-liked and trusted prisoner at the jail now and many say that her move there, after the Kerobokan murder plot claims, was the best thing that could have happened.
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Lawrence has always denied the allegations. It was 2013 and at Kerobokan jail Lawrence was a Tamping or leader of the women’s block. The then jail governor was a supporter. She got things done. When the water pump broke down she fixed it.
One insider says that she was a consummate bossy boots but had natural leadership qualities. People did what she wanted, not just because she was a bully but because she was able to convince people things were to their benefit.
Another says that despite her tough exterior Lawrence has a soft side. “There is something about her you like. There is something intrinsic in her that you can’t help but like her. There’s a really soft side to her.”
One friend says that seeing Lawrence looking after a sick inmate or an animal makes her soft side shine through.
But she had as many enemies as friends at Kerobokan and some prisoners claimed she was a bully and stood over others.
She was never friends with Schapelle Corby and the pair shared a mutual dislike of each other. She also frequently clashed with Bali Nine member Myuran Sukumaran and insiders say that on one occasion it got physical. Lawrence suffered a busted eardrum.
Guards claimed to have uncovered a plot between Lawrence and a prisoner known as “Black Sonia” to kill a guard. The supposed evidence was on SMS messages found on their phones.
Lawrence has always denied it, saying she was set up. Others say it was all bravado and it was never a serious plot but rather a ploy by the other woman to assert her authority over Lawrence. No one was ever charged.
But Lawrence was transferred out of Kerobokan and after a stint at Jembrana she ended up at Bangli, an intimate little jail in the shadow of Mt Agung volcano and where the air is cooler and the temperature milder than the stifling heat of Kerobokan.
Some say it is the best thing that could have happened to her. The jail doctor, Gusti Putu Sumertayasa, says that when she arrived at Bangli she was taking methadone in a bid to beat a drug problem but had weaned off that since settling into life in a new jail and no longer took any methadone.
Dr Putu Asih Primatanti, a psychiatrist who has treated Lawrence over the years, says Lawrence is tenacious and diligent and she hopes life will be kind to her when she returns home.
Dr Primatanti spent a lot of time with Lawrence, listening to and counselling her over the years.
AT one stage at Bangli Lawrence had a Bali dog called Oz which she had reared from a pup and the jail had allowed her to keep him in the jail.
One of Indonesia’s premier dog trainers, Philips Jeong, even visited the jail to help her learn how to handle the dog.
Lawrence took up painting in the wake of the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in 2015, an event which affected her profoundly.
Several of her paintings hang on the walls of the jail’s administration area.
And she galvanised the prisoners to paint colourful murals on the walls of the formerly drab cell blocks. In the women’s block a waterfall and river with trees and sky was painted next to which Lawrence built a small pond for her tiny pet turtle.
On another wall they painted bright fruits and vegetables.
She helped arrange classes to learn how to do decoupage on clutch bags and started making tissue boxes and other items using newspaper. And she helped organise for them to be sold on the outside.
The past few weeks the handicrafts group has been making little felt Christmas trees decorations to sell.
And while Lawrence is due to walk out the doors of Bangli jail for the last time, her girlfriend Erna has been implicated in a new drugs case.
On August 15 a man called Alfan Supriyanto was arrested trying to bring 2.75 grams of methamphetamine into Bangli jail hidden inside a Pringles chip tube.
He allegedly told police he was bringing it to the jail for Erna. She was taken to the police station and interrogated but has not been charged with anything.
Alfan, who faces 12 years in jail, is now a suspect.
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