Australia - FORMER Sydney bikie Hassan "Sam" Ibrahim is being bounced around the state's prisons in an apparent attempt by NSW Corrective Services to punish him for speaking out.
It comes after a series of moves by the State Government and Corrective Services to punish high-profile, "high-risk" prisoners.
The Government legislated recently to stop two prisoners, Bassam Hamzy and Emad Sleiman, from suing the state over their incarceration in Goulburn jail's High Risk Management Unit, known as Supermax.
Ibrahim, the former president of the Parramatta chapter of the Nomads bikie gang, has been a prominent player in Sydney's criminal milieu for two decades. He says he is now "retired".
He is on remand over the alleged kidnapping of a 16-year-old boy who was mistaken for a person who tried to break into Ibrahim's Greystanes home in April. Ibrahim has yet to be tried on the charges and police have since admitted in court that he was not the person who initially took the child, nor the person who punched him in the face.
After spending two months at Silverwater jail, Ibrahim was moved to the state's most punitive and secure jail section, Supermax, shortly after the June 5 attempt on the life of his younger brother, Fadi.
After he complained about the move to his lawyer, Brett Galloway, Ibrahim was transferred again, this time to segregation in Goulburn jail's multipurpose unit.
Multipurpose units are used in maximum-security jails for high-risk inmates on segregation orders.
The transfers have been criticised by the NSW Greens and prisoner advocacy group Justice Action as lacking in due legal process and further evidence of a culture of extrajudicial punishment in NSW prisons.
The incidence of remand prisoners, inmates not yet tried over their alleged offences, residing in Supermax is very rare. Only high-profile prisoners facing the most severe charges, such as murder or terrorism, are sent there. "[Ibrahim's charges] do not justify his being placed in the extremely punitive conditions of the Goulburn Supermax while still awaiting trial," said Greens' prison spokeswoman Sylvia Hale.
While acknowledging that "with the current violence between bikie gang members, it may well be appropriate for someone like Sam Ibrahim to be segregated", Ms Hale said that should be done by way of a formal segregation order that can be subject to judicial review.
Justice Action spokesman Brett Collins said the transfers are ultimately in the hands of Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham who is regarded as having almost autocratic control over NSW jails.
Moving prisoners around high-security, segregated units or from jail to jail is being used as a form of punishment for prisoners, Mr Collins said.
"[Being moved is] totally up to the discretion of the manager and the manager, of course, at the end of it is Woodham. It means any prison officer who doesn't particularly like a prisoner, for whatever reason … any prisoner can be put inside the High Risk Management Unit."
Mr Galloway complained about the move in a series of letters to Corrective Services.
During a phone call with his client on Wednesday, Mr Galloway discussed going public with complaints about the transfer. Several hours later Ibrahim was allegedly told by Corrective Services, not to co-operate with the media.
Mr Galloway said Ibrahim was told "things would only get worse for him". The lawyer and his client decided to speak to The Sun-Herald and by Friday morning Ibrahim had been transferred a second time. A Corrective Services spokesman would not respond to the alleged "not to co-operate" statement.
INSIDE SUPERMAX
Opened in 2001 by then premier Bob Carr, Supermax follows a North American trend of creating "prisons within prisons" for the most violent and dangerous prisoners.
The 1000-square-metre concrete and steel structure is divided into three areas - units 7, 8 and 9 - and has 78 cells, three of which are "dry cells" used for inmates at risk of self-harm.
Unit 7 is the most notorious of the three and is used for the initial "assessment phase".
Locked in 1.5-metre by 4.2-metre concrete cells for at least 19 hours every day, inmates have access to one six-minute shower a day. Food is provided through a hole in the door.
NOTABLE PRISONERS
? Sef Gonzales: serving three consecutive life terms without parole for the 2001 murders of his parents and younger sister.
? Ivan Milat: the backpacker murderer is serving seven consecutive life terms plus 18 years without parole for the 1990s killings.
? Bilal Skaf: serving 38 years for his role as leader of a gang who pack-raped girls in 2000.
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