Corrections despise the living prisoners they imprison – why would we be surprised at their cruelty towards a dying woman?
Dying prisoner Vicki Letele left in pain for almost four hours, family claim
Terminally-ill inmate Vicki Letele was ignored by a nurse and a guard when she called out in distress early this morning, her mother has alleged.
Letele, 35, has asked for an early release from a three year and two month sentence for fraud because she is dying of cancer.
The Parole Board decided the mother-of-three, who has served eight months of her sentence, does not meet the exceptional circumstances test for early release, but Corrections has agreed to review the decision. The outcome is expected next week.
The fact that a Pacific woman went to prison for 3 bloody year on fraud while white white collar crime are given home detention is the true disgrace here. Adding insult to the injury of this racist justice system is that Corrections will not allow Vicki to go home to die.
This spite is the NZ of today, and we need to stare deep into the ugly reflection of what we have become to truly appreciate how awful we have become.
Judith Collins could rule on this right now, but she won’t because she knows that NZers love punishment over justice. Our system is corrupt and racist and we like it that way because it mostly benefits white people. Letting a Maori woman out early to die with her whanau is just not an option.
Look at the contempt corrections treat their living prisoners. They have locked up 500 prisoners longer than their sentence, they are currently in a test case in Hamilton trying to extend ESOs on prisoners on their last day of probation and they have removed Prisoners rights to vote.
This is a culture who have been led by media crime headlines and tough on crime politicians to agree to a spiteful public service whose only goal is to punish and make those being punished suffer.
This is who we are now, lap it sleepy hobbits. We allow mass surveillance, we allowed Helen Kelly to die as a criminal, we allow CYFs to torture children, we allow 560 NZers kill themselves each year, we allow mental health services to fall over, we allow Housing NZ to throw people onto the street, we allow WINZ to spy on beneficiaries, we allow 1 in every 100 NZers to be homeless and we allow a corrupt and racist justice system to remain unchallenged.
You want to be angry at the ugliness of this reflection – blame yourselves and this Government.
This is a mindless unnecessary crime against humanity by Judiith Collins.
Where is the compassion?….This woman is no threat if she is taken home to be with her family in her last months for their care and love.
…and why punish her family?!
I have wondered too Martyn at her prison sentence for fraud when there are white collar workers with fraud crimes on home detention and enjoying the comforts of their own home.
I think this decision by the Corrections/Government to keep this dying woman in prison is going to be a massive blot in their record book for the chilling callousness of their decision – I know they are the great punishers of our times but there are many National voters I am sure that will think this is a step too far and who will find this repugnant and cruel. It will make them feel uncomfortable and ashamed at the way this country is heading.
This government is mean and nasty and very uncivilised – it is lacking in empathy and their cabinet has not been brought up with kindness about them in their early informative years – its pretty obvious they do not know what Helen Kelly meant by being kind to each other.
I can’t wait to see the back of their arrogance and poor governance of this country.
Because they can.
The prisons are full of Maori, some of them guilty of actual crimes, and I doubt the flinty-eyed denizens of Parnell and Remuera are going to lose a lot of sleep over one more, terminally ill or not, remaining there until she breathes her last.
This is New Zealand. What a wretched carnival of misery we’ve become.