Mother’s fears as prison riot erupts

By Chris Paver and Aap
Updated November 6 2012 - 3:20am, first published February 22 2012 - 10:35am
Martin Stephens with his wife, Christine Puspayanti, behind the walls of Kerobokan Prison. Picture: STEVE PENNELLS
Martin Stephens with his wife, Christine Puspayanti, behind the walls of Kerobokan Prison. Picture: STEVE PENNELLS

The mother of convicted Bali Nine drug mule Martin Stephens, from Towradgi, faced an anxious wait for information yesterday after a prison riot broke out at Bali’s notorious Kerobokan jail.Michele Stephens told the Mercury said she had been in contact with Australian authorities at home and in Indonesia as events unfolded at the overcrowded prison.‘‘I have as much information as anybody else,’’ Mrs Stephens said.‘‘The main thing for us is that we’ve been told that Martin is okay.’’Kerobokan is home to 12 Australians, including convicted drug traffickers Schapelle Corby and members of the Bali Nine. None of the Australians were involved in the violence.Mrs Stephens said she and her husband Bill found out about the riot early yesterday morning via a phone call from a journalist in Indonesia.‘‘The hardest thing with us was not being able to get in touch with Martin directly and having to go through channels and wait for the consulate to get in touch,’’ she said.She added that the Australian consulate was ‘‘always good’’ at providing information and help.Stephens, who is serving a life sentence for his part in a bid to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005, married his Balinese sweetheart in a prison ceremony last year.The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed all Australians at Kerobokan were safe and said it was trying to contact the prisoners individually.‘‘[We] understand Indonesian authorities have now regained control ... and that the prison remains in lockdown,’’ a spokesman said.About 100 police stormed the jail yesterday morning to put down the riot, which broke out about 11pm on Tuesday and saw prisoners take over the complex.Inmates threw stones at staff, trashed cells and set parts of the facility alight.Three inmates were shot with rubber bullets when riot police entered the prison, which was built to hold just over 300 prisoners but now holds more than three times that number.

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