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Kiwi starving in Bali jail nightmare after 'drug scam', son calls for help

Author
Jaime Lyth, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 2 Jun 2023, 1:56pm
Antony de Malmanche with his son Shaun de Malmanche after his sentence. Photo / AP
Antony de Malmanche with his son Shaun de Malmanche after his sentence. Photo / AP

Kiwi starving in Bali jail nightmare after 'drug scam', son calls for help

Author
Jaime Lyth, NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Fri, 2 Jun 2023, 1:56pm

A New Zealand man is begging for help for his father, who is starving to death in Bali prison after being caught up in a drug scam while trying to find love.

Antony de Malmanche may never step foot in his home country again after he was arrested for allegedly smuggling 1.7kg of methamphetamine in his backpack at the international airport in Denpasar, Indonesia, in December 2014.

De Malmanche has also recently revealed he is a survivor of abuse as a former child patient in the notorious Lake Alice Hospital, making him a vulnerable target to a cartel scam.

He maintains his not-guilty plea, claiming that he was set up by a sophisticated criminal organisation that he believed to be an online lover.

The 61-year-old Whanganui man is in his ninth year of a 15-year sentence in Bali鈥檚 Kerobokan Prison, and his health has been deteriorating ever since he was put there.

His son Shaun de Malmanche has sent up a聽聽to raise funds for his father who he says 鈥渋s guilty of nothing but being gullible鈥.

鈥淚t鈥檚 getting more and more expensive to pay for everything that鈥檚 happening there.

鈥淗e鈥檚 lost a lot of teeth and needs dentures. He has hospital bills from injuries sustained while there, as well as health problems.

鈥淲e already have to cover the cost of accommodation and food costs there, and on top of that, it鈥檚 quite difficult,鈥 the son wrote on the page.

De Malmanche has angina, and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder) an incurable group of lung diseases that block airflow and make it difficult to breathe.

鈥淭his is a man who lived in a very small, cheap rental house in Castlecliff, Whanganui, and spent his days fishing and or diving with friends, giving extra fish away to friends or people who needed it more than he did,鈥 his son wrote online.

Antony Glen de Malmanche, pictured with the 1.7kg of methamphetamine that was recovered from his bag. Photo / AFP

Antony Glen de Malmanche, pictured with the 1.7kg of methamphetamine that was recovered from his bag. Photo / AFP

The nightmare began when De Malmanche started talking to a woman online named 鈥淛essie Smith鈥, who claimed to be a wealthy South African businesswoman and cocoa company owner.

She offered de Malmanche money for flights, clothes and a passport in return for meeting her in Hong Kong.

鈥淛essie鈥檚鈥 associates told de Malmanche that his online girlfriend was not in Hong Kong and that he had to fly to Bali to meet her.

They bought him a new suitcase for his flight to Bali and after de Malmanche had a quick look for anything suspicious, he proceeded with his trip.

When de Malmanche arrived in Bali, customs officers found almost 2kg of methamphetamine in his bag.

The Bali jail is a re-traumatising environment for de Malmanche, who told聽Woman鈥檚 Day聽he will often have flashbacks of when he was sent to

鈥淚 can still smell the paraldehyde.

鈥淭here was a charge nurse who used to give me injections 鈥 a nasty little man whose eyes seemed to glow red with pure evil鈥 de Malmanche said.

Systematic abuse of children, including the use of electric shocks and painful paraldehyde injections was used to punish children at聽

While de Malmanche struggles daily in the inhumane conditions of the prison, his family wonders whether they will ever see them again.

鈥淒ad is extremely scared of dying there, without ever seeing his grandchildren, children, or his country ever again,鈥 his son said.

His current release date is set for December 28, 2028.

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