Advertisement

Cassandra Sainsbury special treatment and visits upset fellow inmates

Cassandra Sainsbury with fiance Scott Broadbridge.

Cassandra Sainsbury with fiance Scott Broadbridge. Photo: Facebook

Cassandra Sainsbury’s reunions with her fiance and family in El Buen Pastor prison, held outside normal visiting hours, has sparked anger and jealousy among fellow inmates.

The visits were facilitated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, despite Colombian authorities indicating Ms Sainsbury would not be treated any differently to other inmates and could only receive visitors on weekends in line with usual visiting hours.

Photographs captured by Australian media in Bogota showed crowds of visitors lined up to visit their loved ones on Mother’s Day last Sunday.

Prisoners were reportedly angered by the Australian detainee’s apparent “special treatment” by being granted the weekday visits.

“There is a lot of tension in the jail,” one prisoner, housed in another wing, told News Corp.

“Cassandra wasn’t being treated differently (before), but now that she’s pulled favours and her family are visiting her on a non-visitor day, she’ll start to be treated differently.

“There might be benefits with that, but there will certainly be downsides.”

The unnamed prisoner said Ms Sainsbury was “causing problems”.

“She’s saying that people are robbing her, extorting her and abusing her. If someone stole something at the beginning, that’s normal, it’s about power. But it’s not happening any more and she’s saying those things because she wants attention,” she was quoted as saying.

“I’ve seen this so many times with foreigners. They think that if they cry and do a big show for the cameras, they will get out in a couple of months, but it isn’t going to happen. They have at least four years behind bars, and pulling puppy eyes for the cameras isn’t going to change that.

“And now that her family is here, it’s like she’s acting up for the cameras, saying things are happening to her that aren’t. She’s just being melodramatic.”

Ms Sainsbury’s mother Lisa Evans and sister Khala Sainsbury have signed an exclusive deal with Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes, while fiance Scott Broadbridge has sold his story to Channel Seven’s Sunday Night.

It is understood both networks will air their “exclusive” stories on Sunday.

Advertisement
Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter.
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.