Sara a boss behind bars
BYRON Bay woman Sara Connor, jailed in Bali for her role in the death of a police officer, is now a leader in the women’s jail at Kerobokan.
Connor is one of 13 leaders in the jail, which houses 233 prisoners, including 14 foreigners. Prison officials say Connor spends her time working in the jail’s kitchen, and also makes handicrafts and does yoga.
Connor is two years into her five-year sentence for her role in the death of Wayan Sudarsa, whose bloodied and battered body was found on a Kuta beach in the early hours of August 17, 2016. She has two young boys with former husband Anthony “Twig” Connor and they have visited since she was jailed.
In the kitchen, Connor is one of five leaders supervising the cooking – starting work at 4am, cooking 45kg of rice and cutting up vegetables.
A prison source said Connor’s children and ex-husband had visited about three months ago.
Connor was working at the jail kitchen when News Corp attended a training event inside the jail this week for prisoners involved in landscaping and construction training.
Fifty-one female prisoners were involved in the training, held at 12 different jails across Indonesia this week and involving 1000 prisoners.
The women at Kerobokan were the only female prisoners involved in the program.
The women’s jail at Kerobokan has a new governor, Lili, who used to be an official in the Law and Human Rights Ministry in Jakarta, involved in training and promoting skills for prisoners.
“Every morning I walk around the prison, visiting every room, to say hello to all of them, shaking hands with all of them. As long as they are well and happy, I feel happy,” Lili said.
“All prisoners call me ‘mamma’. They said that I am their mamma.
“I just try to be always approaching them, talking to them. I never feel bored to give them knowledge.”
Connor is due to be released in 2021 but is expected to earn sentence remissions each year, which will bring her release date forward.
Together with her former boyfriend, British DJ David Taylor, she was convicted of group violence causing death for the attack on the officer.
Taylor was sentenced to six years in jail after admitting to the attack but testifying it was in self-defence. Murder charges against Connor and Taylor were not pursued.
AS LONG AS THEY ARE WELL AND HAPPY, I FEEL HAPPY. ALL PRISONERS CALL ME ‘MAMMA’. WOMEN’S PRISON GOVERNOR LILI