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NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
Wednesday September 22, 2010
First published 1831 No. 53,968 $1.50 (inc GST)
SuperMax.com: inmates
find freedom on Facebook
EXCLUSIVE
Matt Wade DELHI,
Daniel Lane and Tom Reilly
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MICHAEL HERON
Out next year, wants to
write to a woman.
KON GEORGIOU
“Love and respect from a
born Rebel.”
IVAN MILAT
Dislikes: persecution and
oppression of innocent
human beings.
BASSAM HAMZY
“Murder is on my mind.”
*Edited version of Kon Georgiou’s Facebook page
Georgiou, who has 166 online
friends, writes about his life in
SuperMax, including run-ins
with guards and his life as a bikie
before his arrest.
He flaunts the newfound freedom social networking allows.
‘‘It gives me a lot of strength,
knowing that I can once again be
in contact with all my brother’s
[sic], for the last 7 years here in
SuperMax they have done everything in their power to cut me off
from all my brother’s but now
with this new tool called face
book they can no longer ke...ep
me suppressed, love and respect
from a born Rebel,’’ he writes.
Several Rebel members post
messages to Georgiou, who
writes about an alleged stint in
solitary confinement after what
he claims was a fire in his cell.
Georgiou’s profile includes
posts supposedly written by
Milat and Hamzy. A Corrective
Services spokesman, Bob Stapleton, said it was aware of the
posts. They might be genuine
but the agency could not be sure.
The quotes attributed to
Hamzy, who is accused of running a drug ring from jail, are
almost incoherent. He promises
‘‘revenge at all costs’’ before saying ‘‘murder [is] on my mind’’.
Hamzy, who Georgiou claims is
becoming a psychopath, also
alleges that the mobile phone he
used to run his drug ring from
jail was given to him by a guard.
Mr Stapleton said he was
unaware of this allegation.
In another post, Milat claims
he was framed for the seven
murders he was found guilty of
committing and, like Hamzy,
speaks of his dislike for the Corrective Services commissioner,
Ron Woodham.
An appeal for women to write
to the murderer Michael Heron,
who is serving 14 years, is also
posted on Georgiou’s site.
Included in the request are a picture of Heron, which appears to
have been taken inside prison,
and his prisoner number and
postal address.
Mr Stapleton said the department was deeply concerned
about inmates’ use of social
media and was investigating potential security breaches.
But he said the department
was powerless to stop the general public creating and organising
online profiles for prisoners.
‘‘We certainly are concerned,
deeply concerned, but we have
no control,’’ he said. ‘‘We have
sought legal advice and the commissioner is very concerned
about it . . . but there would need
to be more legislation in place
for us to have control.’’
He said it was possible pictures were taken with Corrective
Services’ permission, as inmates
were sometimes allowed to have
their photos taken by an official.
The Herald sent emails seeking comment from the person
updating Georgiou’s profile, but
did not receive a response.
Moore quits Barangaroo team INXS sued over Hutchence riches
Vanda Carson
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Matthew Moore
URBAN AFFAIRS EDITOR
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THE lord mayor, Clover Moore,
has quit the board in charge of
Sydney’s biggest development,
claiming the public is being
‘‘railroaded’’ on the Barangaroo
project.
In a letter to the Premier, Cr
Moore said she was resigning
because Kristina Keneally had
failed to address her concerns
about the removal of financial
information from the Barangaroo
contract, ‘‘inadequate and ineffective community consultation’’
and the ‘‘external control’’ that
was forcing the project to proceed
before it was considered properly.
Cr Moore’s decision comes
after six months of pressure from
fellow councillors to resign the
post she has held since March
last year and oppose the controversial project, which includes
huge office towers and a hotel on
a pier. Until now she has insisted
Chaos ... the collapsed bridge outside the main stadium. Photo: Reuters
Delhi doubts
over safety fears
Paul
Tatnell
.................................................................
PRISONERS in the state’s SuperMax prison are using Facebook
to keep in touch with the outside
world, including fellow gang
members – and to request contact with women – in what
appears to be a serious security
breach.
Prison authorities have admitted they are powerless to stop
inmates appearing on social networking sites such as Facebook
and have sought new legislation.
It is understood associates of
the inmates have been updating
the profiles, sometimes with letters and photos smuggled out of
prison.
One prisoner profile the Herald found includes postings
attributed to the serial killer Ivan
Milat, the murderer and alleged
drug dealer Bassam Hamzy and
the convicted triple murderer
Konstantinos Georgiou.
All three are at Goulburn Prison’s SuperMax division, also
known as the high-risk management unit. It is home to 38 of the
state’s worst prisoners. Contact
among prisoners is minimal and
the cells are bare.
The Herald is also aware of
lower-risk inmates having online
profiles,
including
pictures,
which are believed to be updated
by Sydney bikies. Internet use is
banned in NSW prisons and there
is no suggestion inmates are
updating their profiles.
But the Herald understands
that Corrective Services NSW has
become aware that information
about SuperMax, including dealings with security guards, an
alleged fire in a cell and the possible release of photos taken inside the jail, has appeared online
and is being investigated.
The Facebook profile of
Georgiou, a former Rebel bikie
convicted of killing three members of the Bandidos gang, has
featured a photo of the inmate
working out which might have
been taken inside prison. The
photo has since been deleted.
NEWS, PAGE 3
An extract from Clover Moore’s letter of resignation.
that working ‘‘inside the tent’’ is
the best way to improve the
scheme, but in recent weeks has
decided she can no longer tolerate the way it is proceeding.
In a letter to the Premier dated
August 31, Cr Moore said the
‘‘slow release of contractual
information and secrecy about
project finances is contrary to
the public’s right to know and
contrary to assurances given by
your government’’.
When the Barangaroo Delivery Authority finally published
its contract with Lend Lease last
month, it deleted most of the
financial information, making it
impossible for the public to
Continued Page 9
A BITTER fight has erupted over
the lucrative rights to the image
and songs of the former INXS
frontman Michael Hutchence.
The legal spat has pitted the
five surviving members of his
band against a mysterious company based in the Virgin Islands,
called Chardonnay Investments.
Some reports have suggested
that Hutchence’s daughter, Tiger
Lily, is the beneficiary of
Chardonnay, but the trust company has declined to reveal to
the court who is behind it.
Four years before Hutchence’s
death in a Sydney hotel room in
1997, Chardonnay bought the
rights to collect royalties from
the airplay of his songs and the
use of his image in television and
merchandising. It also collected
the proceeds of the sale of his
posthumous self-titled album.
More than a decade after his
death, the company has sued the
band members, their manager
Michael Hutchence ... died in 1997.
and US lawyer as well as dozens
of INXS-related companies,
alleging they conspired to
ensure Chardonnay was not paid
its ‘‘one-sixth’’ share of profits.
The allegation is denied.
It is the second big case to
arise out of Hutchence’s death.
In 1998 the Hutchence family
sued Chardonnay and Richard
Branson’s V2 music group to try
to stop them distributing proceeds from an album, which
were held by Chardonnay. That
case was settled out of court.
Details of the most recent case
have not been released by the
NSW Supreme Court. However,
according to a decision published yesterday, Chardonnay
asked the court to rule that it is
entitled to a share of the profits
made by the band since 1997.
The company has also asked
that a partnership between the
band members be wound up so
the money can be divided equally.
Four of the members of the
band won the first round of the
legal battle, and are no longer
targets of the lawsuit.
But Andrew Farriss remains in
the lawyers’ sights, and Justice
Paul Brereton said it was possible
the other band members, including his brothers, Tim and Jon Farriss, Gary Beers and Kirk Pengilly,
would be targeted again.
The lawsuit names INXS’s US
lawyer, Bill Leibowitz, the band’s
manager, Chris Murphy, and their
record companies.
Justice Brereton said Chardonnay’s lawsuit was incomplete and
called on it to redraft the claim.
THE credibility of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi has again
been thrown into question after a
footbridge near the main stadium
collapsed, injuring more than 20
people, and Australia’s world
champion discus thrower, Dani
Samuels, withdrew over security
and health concerns.
And in another blow, a senior
Games official made a withering
attack on standards in the athletes’ village.
In unprecedented criticism of
Delhi’s facilities, the president of
the Commonwealth Games Federation, Mike Fennell, said the newly
built village had been seriously
compromised and conditions in
the residences had “shocked the
majority” of overseas officials.
His concerns were echoed by
New Zealand’s chef de mission,
who raised the possibility that the
event would have to be cancelled.
“The reality is that if the village
is not ready and athletes can’t
come, the implications are that
it’s not going to happen,” Dave
Currie said. ‘‘I think they are in
severe difficulties . . . it’s going to
be extremely hard to get across
the line.’’
While Australian officials have
described the conditions for athletes as “very dirty” and raised
concerns about poor communications within the village, the Herald understands these will not
stop the planned arrival of athletes in Delhi from next Monday.
But other athletes may decide
to follow Samuels’s lead and turn
their back on the Games.
A spokeswoman for Athletics
Australia, Erin Carter, said: “This
is the first athlete who has withdrawn for health and safety reasons and we are not aware that any
other competitors are planning to
pull out. But I suppose there are
10 days to go before it all begins so
we’ll have to wait and see.’’
Samuels’s coach, Denis Knowles, said her withdrawal was ‘‘not
an easy decision’’ and was due in
part to the recent shooting of
two tourists in the Indian capital
and an outbreak of dengue fever.
Officials from the Scottish,
Canadian and Northern Irish
teams have also complained
about conditions in the village.
Some reportedly described the
residences as ‘‘unliveable’’.
The Games have been plagued
by construction delays and
allegations of corruption.
Mr Fennell went over the head
of the Games organising commit-
SYDNEY CITY chance shower 14°-20°
TOMORROW: shower or two 13°-19°
LIVERPOOL chance early shower 10°-21°
TOMORROW: shower or two 9°-21°
PENRITH chance early shower 11-23°
TOMORROW: shower or two 9°-21°
WOLLONGONG chance shower 14°-19°
TOMORROW: shower or two 13°-18°
tee and sent a letter raising his
concerns to the Indian government’s top official, the Cabinet
Secretary, K. M. Chandrashekar,
who visited the village yesterday
to assess the problems.
The chief executive of the federation, Mike Hooper, told the
Herald yesterday that about
three-quarters of the village was
“just filthy” and the need for
electrical and plumbing maintenance was widespread. “There
has been some improvement in
the village in the past four or five
+
Inside
The fears that
drove an
Australian
world
champion
to quit.
SportsDay,
Page 32
days but not enough to welcome
all the athletes of the Commonwealth,’’ he said.
The Australian chef de mission, Steve Moneghetti, who is
due to fly from Melbourne to
India next weekend, said organisers had ‘‘two days to do what is
probably going to take about two
weeks’’ to fix the village, which
he said was ‘‘probably not up to
Western standards’’.
But Perry Crosswhite, the
head of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association,
remains keen to see the troubled event go ahead.
A spokesman for the association said last night: ‘‘After the
meeting of the various chef de
missions that are already there
this morning, Perry says the attitude among the delegates was
that they are committed to do
everything they can to make the
Games work’’.
The secretary-general of the
organising committee, Lalit
Bhanot, insisted ‘‘the situation is
under control’’.
He also appeared to suggest
that some Western officials had
different standards from locals.
‘‘They want a certain standard of
hygiene, they want a certain
standard of cleanliness which
may differ from my standards.’’
India’s Urban Development
Minister, S. Jaipal Reddy,
described the bridge collapse as a
minor incident. ‘‘It’s only a footbridge, it’s not a major thing.’’
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