For the eight years she has been in Kerobokan prison, convicted drug mule Renae Lawrence has been mostly ignored, her plight overshadowed by that of fellow inmate, Schapelle Corby.
But, when The Weekly visited her, it was to discover a young woman ashamed of what she’s done, embarrassed for her family — and terrified to come home. Bryce Corbett reports from inside Kerobokan prison.
Read the full interview with Renae Lawrence here
One of the infamous Bali Nine, 35-year-old Lawrence has served eight of the 20 years imprisonment she was sentenced to after being caught at Denpasar airport with almost three kilograms of heroin strapped to her body.
The self-confessed drug mule, whose father describes as “a good kid who just got caught up with the wrong crowd”, has adapted to the basic lifestyle offered in Kerobokan prison. So much that she fears her release.
“What am I supposed to do when people recognise me and don’t want anything to do with me?” she says.
Aside from the fear of what sort of life she would return to — “Who is going to give Renae Lawrence a job?” — she alleges her life has been threatened by fellow inmate and Bali Nine ringleader Andrew Chan and believes she “will be killed” if she goes back to Australia.
On her more famous fellow prisoner, Schapelle Corby, Lawrence tells The Weekly the pair have drifted out of friendship over the six years they have both been house in Kerobokan.
“Schapelle and I are friends,” says Renae.
On the subject of Schapelle’s much talked-about mental health, Renae says she is doing much better.
“Most of the stuff you read is not true,” Renae says in a relayed email before we meet.
“Reports that her mental health is deteriorating are either by people with nothing better to do or people looking for a bit of limelight. At one stage, her mental health did deteriorate to the stage where she was hospitalised, but, since then, she has gotten back on her feet.”
Read more of this story in the May issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
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