Bali Nine courier Renae Lawrence showcases dancing skills at jail ceremony
THIS is Renae Lawrence as you’ve never seen her. Ahead of her release from prison this year, the Bali Nine heroin courier has participated in a traditional Balinese dance in prison. SEE THE PHOTOS.
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BALI Nine heroin courier Renae Lawrence, who is getting ready to taste freedom 13 years after her arrest, has showcased her Balinese dancing skills today in a special jail ceremony.
Wearing a brightly coloured traditional Balinese dress, Lawrence was one of five female prisoners to perform at a ceremony in Bali to celebrate the 54th Indonesian Corrections Day.
Lawrence and her four fellow prisoners performed the Puspanjali welcome dance at a ceremony inside Bali’s narcotics jail in Bangli this morning.
Lawrence was dressed in a male costume.
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It comes as Lawrence, from Newcastle, has exclusively told News Corporation at her happiness that her sentence, for her role in the Bali Nine heroin smuggling operation, is coming to an end.
The first thing she wants to do when she returns home to Australia is to embrace her family.
Lawrence spoke to News Corporation earlier during celebrations inside Bangli jail in east Bali, where she is held.
She told of her regret at her crime but her acceptance of her punishment.
MORE: The moment Bali Nine families found out
But she did not want to comment about this weekend’s third anniversary of the execution of her co-accused, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. The two men were shot dead by firing squad in the early hours of April 29, 2015.
Bangli jail’s governor, Diding Alpian, had praise for the sole westerner held in the small prison.
He said Lawrence is a block leader, she paints, maintains the garden, makes handicrafts, engages in Balinese dancing and has been instrumental in setting up a sanction system for those who litter.
Anyone who throws cigarette butts on the ground is fined 5000 Rupiah or about 50 cents and the proceeds are used to buy cleaning equipment for the jail.
Lawrence was sentenced to 20 years in jail for her role as one of the couriers, caught at Bali airport with heroin strapped to her body.
She was the only member of the nine not to be sentenced to life or death for her role in the heroin smuggling ring which attempted to traffic 8.2kg of heroin from Bali to Australia.
Her 20-year sentence was in recognition of the assistance she provided to authorities in the wake of the arrests.
Taking into account twice-yearly remissions and sentence cuts Lawrence’s sentence has been slashed to just over 13 years, making her eligible for release in May this year, pending payment of the $100,000 fine levied at the time of sentence.
However, she is understood to have already told the Indonesian authorities that she does not have the cash to pay the hefty fine and will therefore need to serve an extra six months behind bars in lieu of payment.
This makes her eligible for release in about November this year.
Lawrence told News Corporation that she first began learning Balinese dancing when she was held in Kerobokan prison, where she had a private teacher.
“But here, the guards told me to dance. So I have learned again. The prison staff teach us. We also learn from the internet, downloading a video of the dancing and we follow that,” Lawrence said.
She said Balinese dancing was difficult but the important thing was that she had activities to undertake in the jail.
Lawrence has also done some paintings while in jail, mostly abstract. Several of her paintings hang on a wall at the jail.
Jail Governor Diding Alpian said that every Saturday the women’s block was allowed to conduct karaoke and were allowed to bring the equipment into the block.
He said Lawrence was helpful to guards in her role as block leader, distributing information from the prison management to inmates and also actively worked in the garden.
He was full of praise for Lawrence’s initiative in fining people who littered.
“Now it has been implemented in all blocks in this prison. Even the prison staff should be fined if they litter with cigarette butts,” Mr Alpian said.
“We really appreciate that initiative. It was started two or three months ago.”
There are currently 15 female prisoners at Bangli jail.
Lawrence was moved there in 2014. The previous year she faced allegations, which she has denied, that she plotted to kill jail guards at Kerobokan prison, and was moved to Negara prison. She then moved to Bangli at her request.