Bali Nine duo moved from Kerobokan jail after ‘violating rules’

TWO Bali Nine members have been moved out of the infamous Kerobokan jail to a prison in Java after allegedly violating jail rules.

Life in prison ... Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, left, is being moved from Kerobokan Prison. Pict

TWO Bali Nine members have been moved out of the infamous Kerobokan jail to a prison in Java after allegedly violating jail rules.

Martin Stephens and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen were moved late on Wednesday night, along with two Iranian prisoners and a Sierra Leone national.

Both Australians are serving life sentences for their role in the 2005 heroin smuggling ring. Stephens was one of the airport couriers, caught with heroin strapped to his body and Nguyen was arrested later in Bali.

Kerobokan Jail governor Farid Junaedi told News Corp Australia that the move of the five prisoners, all serving lengthy sentences on drugs charges, was aimed at easing the jail’s overcrowding problem.

The two Iranians are serving life and the man from Sierra Leone is on death row.

“There is no special consideration. The major consideration is because they have a heavy sentence and they can’t co-operate. I mean that they have violated the rules in jail,” Mr Junaedi said. He didn’t elaborate on what kind of violation they had committed.

He said moving prisoners was also a way of easing congestion at the jail, which is now three times over its capacity.

Easing jail congestion ... Martin Stephens is being shifted away from Kerobokan jail.

“The maximum capacity of Kerobokan jail is only 323 prisoners. But the jail is now home to 953 prisoners, more than 60 people are foreigners from 20 countries.”

Mr Junaedi said other Bali Nine members were not moved because they had shown “good behaviour” and had never violated jail rules.

The group was moved to Malang which is a higher classification of jail than Kerobokan and is bigger.

They left Kerobokan about 8.30pm on Wednesday night and were taken to Java by bus, escorted by guards, police and the military.

Other Bali Nine members have already been shifted out of Kerobokan.

Late last year courier Renae Lawrence, who is serving 20 years, was moved to a jail in Negara, west Bali, after authorities accused her of a plot to kill jail guards.

And then earlier this month she was moved again to Bangli jail, in the middle of the island at her request so that it was closer to Denpasar for her family and visitors.

Fellow courier Scott Rush, serving life in jail, was recently moved to Karangasem jail, in east Bali at his own request.

In his letter of request, he said he wanted to better himself.

It means that of the nine Bali Nine members, there are now only five left in Kerobokan, including Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who are on death row, awaiting a decision on their clemency bid.

And fellow Australian Schapelle Corby was released last month on parole. The Indonesian Justice Minister is yet to receive a full report on her continuing parole after warnings that he was considering sending her back to jail.

The threats came after a Channel 7 Sunday Night interview by her sister Mercedes.

A report, being done by the Corrections Department, is still being written and has yet to be handed to the Minister.

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