Former inmate disputes Cassie Sainsbury’s complaints about tough jail conditions

A FORMER inmate of the prison where accused smuggler Cassie Sainsbury is detained has hit back at the Aussie’s claims.

Cassie Sainsbury when she owned Yorke’s Fitness in Yorketown in 2015.

A FORMER inmate of the prison where accused Australian drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury rejected her description of tough conditions inside the jail.

Ms Sainsbury’s complaints about prison conditions after being arrested trying to smuggle 5.8 kilograms out of Bogota airport is not going down well with some Colombian locals.

A fired-up Doris Patricia Garcia Rojas approached news.com.au outside El Buen Pastor women’s prison on Sunday morning to complain that the media had been given “bad information” from Ms Sainsbury about what it was like inside.

Ms Sainsbury told News Corp last week that she had been bullied inside the jail. She said other inmates were “pushing me around” and “abusing me in Spanish” because she was a foreigner. She also complained of receiving inadequate medical attention.

But Ms Garcia Rojas, who spend 15 months inside the jail’s Patio 5 where Ms Sainsbury has been behind bars for more than a month, disputed that foreign prisoners were treated badly.

“Foreigners have better treatment than the Colombians,” she said, in comments that have been translated from Spanish to English.

Doris Patricia Garcia Rojas, a former inmate of El Buen Pastor women's prison, says foreigners are treated very well inside the jail. Picture: James Law

“The foreigners have priority with medical doctors, with phone calls. The guards treat them very well; in fact they do not permit anybody look at the foreigners. The guards take care of them. She is in a good patio, she is in one of the best patios.

“The foreigners are untouchables; they get very good treatment.”

Ms Garcia Rojas, who was jailed for IT fraud, spoke to news.com.au outside the large blue gate that is the only way in or out of the jail.

She said she was offended that Ms Sainsbury’s family stood to make money from the deals that had been struck with Channel 9 and Channel 7 to tell her story, and that her family members and fiance had been paid to fly over to see her.

“The family of this woman sold her story,” she said.

“It is not a game to be in a jail.

“From that blue door to inside we make our own life.

“We laugh a lot, many of us can find a couple if is our [desire] to have a different sexual inclination and we can have a full life.”

Ms Garcia Rojas said she was trying to correct the misinformation that had been told about the jail conditions.

“I am angry about the bad information ... I am very good friends with women inside, who gave me their hand and taught me to live in there.”

A former prisoner at the jail Cassie Sainsbury is now in, disputes her claims she is being treated badly.

While Ms Garcia Rojas chastised Ms Sainsbury for insulting the food that was served and for saying the guards were unhelpful, the sister of another inmate who spoke to news.com.au confirmed some of what Ms Sainsbury was saying.

“Life in this prison is hard, unless you speak Spanish,” Claudia Marcella Caballero Moreno told news.com.au.

She said the jail was “very dangerous” and that violence between inmates was common.

“Inmates rob who they can, the food is awful, the cells are inhumane,” Ms Caballero Moreno said.

“Inmates beat each other and the security guards inside are hostile and sometimes are very rude.”

Ms Caballero Moreno’s sister told her Ms Sainsbury had a very tough time when she arrived at the jail and was “heavily guarded”, but that she was now doing better.

She said she had been well taken care of because the Australian Embassy had made representations for her.

Cassandra Sainsbury's mother and sister behind the jail El Buen Pastor in Bogota. Women are only allowed to visit the jail on Sundays, so it’s likely they might have to wait to see her. Photographer: Guillermo Legaria

Ms Sainsbury’s mother Lisa Evans, sister Khala Sainsbury and fiance Scott Broadbridge have all been flown to Bogota in the hopes of reuniting with her.

None of them have been able to gain access to the jail, despite being in the Colombian capital for days.

Visiting is restricted to Saturdays for men and Sundays for women, so it is possible that they will not be able to see Ms Sainsbury for another week.

It is understood that the family and Mr Broadbridge have been held up by paperwork.

Ms Sainsbury expressed her frustration towards her mother and sister when news.com.au spoke to her on the phone on Saturday.

“We’re sorting out some stuff … It’s just typical family drama,” she said.

Ms Sainsbury was detained last month when she was allegedly found with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine in her suitcase at Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport last month.

She says she had no idea there were drugs were in her bag.

Visitors to El Buen Pastor jail in Bogota on Mother's Day, Sunday May 14, 2017. The jail is where accused drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury is being held. Picture: Guillermo Legaria