Scores of Kiwis in jail offshore
Over 100 kiwis are in foreign jails for crimes ranging from assault and manslaughter to drug offences. By Kate Shuttleworth.
A former Kiwi pub and nightclub owner convicted of having sex with two underage Colombian girls is among more than 130 New Zealanders doing time in overseas prisons.
Paul Anthony Brailsford was sentenced to 20 years behind bars after his arrest in 2011.
It came during a series of raids to rescue children being sexually exploited in Cartagena, Colombia.
Brailsford publicly denied knowing the girls, aged 12 and 14, were underage.
Documents released exclusively to the Sunday Star-Times show the Government is providing consular assistance to 136 New Zealanders detained across 32 countries, including Brailsford.
It cost $18.28 million in the past year for consular services for the detainees, who are being held in Colombia, Iraq, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Qatar, Peru, Taiwan, Poland and Turkey.
There are 50 detainees in alone.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade revealed that one New Zealander had been held by Iraqi authorities as late as March 6, for an ‘immigration detention’, but had since been released.
According to a Channel 4 investigation, Brailsford, a dual BritishNew Zealand national, was found in his hotel room with child pornography before his arrest in 2011.
When interviewed in prison he told the channel he was still fighting Australia to get out.
‘‘Unfortunately here there are many underage hookers – okay, I got caught in a sting; I thought they were older,’’ he said.
‘‘Both were tall, very wellendowed. I thought old enough, no problem.’’
However, one of his victims told Channel 4 she was not a prostitute and Brailsford had groomed her after seeing her at the beach.
The rap sheets of other Kiwis on the Government’s list include robbery, fraud, sex crimes, manslaughter and drugs charges. One New Zealander is serving a sentence of more than 20 years for murder in the United States.
The cases revealed to the Sunday Star-Times were just those the government agency or New Zealand embassies were aware of.
The $18.28 million in spending on those in prison offshore included providing detained citizens with a list of Englishspeaking lawyers, alerting the arrested person’s family in New Zealand and in some cases, attending a final court hearing.
Almost half of the detained New Zealanders receiving MFAT assistance were locked up in Australian jails – many facing ‘unknown’ sentences.
Labour’s Corrections spokesman, Kelvin Davis was uncomfortable with that.
‘‘There are New Zealanders locked up in both prisons and detention centres who have not committed any crime, but who the Australians simply don’t like or trust.
Amnesty International campaigns director Meg de Ronde also had concerns.
‘‘It’s not just people fleeing war zones and horrific persecution in their home countries who are being detained for long periods – New Zealanders are being detained on Christmas Island and in onshore Australia jails for extended periods due to immigration issues.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully said the detention of New Zealanders in Australia was ‘‘a matter of ongoing discussion between our two governments and has been raised at the highest levels’’.
The management of Australian detention centres was ‘‘a matter for the Australian Government’’, he said.