FORMER Chief Minister Jon Stanhope is demanding the allegation that ACT public servants are involved in the illegal supply of mobile phones to prisoners in the Alexander Maconochie Centre be referred to the new Integrity Commission for urgent inquiry.

In an interview with Sydney journalist Paul Gregoire published on citynews.com.au yesterday (January 1) Canberra’s “secret prisoner” reveals that his life is in tatters and shares intimate details about the Alexander Maconochie Centre, where drugs abound and guards sold him mobile phones.

In November, “CityNews” columnist Robert Macklin broke the story of Canberra’s “Witness J” that set off a national debate about secret trials.

“Witness J’s blunt allegation of corruption in the supply of mobile phones to detainees in the AMC is quite shocking,” says Stanhope.

The unidentified Witness J, in reflecting on his time in the Canberra prison told Gregoire that drugs were ever present, though he had no interest in them.

“I did own a number of mobile phones, which were both expensive and a danger to be caught with,” he says.

“We blatantly bought them from the guards. And I have no problem admitting this given the genuinely amazing and wide penetration of contraband into the prison.

“Given my unique situation, making friends with the guards, who, with the greatest respect, were often bored and of limited difficulty to befriend, allowed me to help soften the difficulties of prison life.”

But, he says the guards have a “vested interest” in keeping detainees happy, and mobile phones are the easiest method to do this.

“If you wonder why these phones aren’t turning up more consistently in searches, I would merely submit that one must question who conducts the searches,” says Witness J.

Shocked by these admissions, Jon Stanhope says: “Long-term Minister for Corrections, Shane Rattenbury has no alternative but to refer the allegation that ACT public servants are involved in the illegal supply of mobile phones to prisoners in the AMC to the new Integrity Commission for urgent inquiry.

“It is imperative that the allegation be rigorously and independently investigated and if true that every effort be made to identify and charge those involved.”

“It is not fair to the honest, hard-working and professional corrections officers working at the AMC to be forced to live with the cloud of suspicion cast over all of them by an open-ended allegation such as this.

“The terms of reference might usefully also cover the determination of the source of other illicit products entering the AMC, such as drugs.

“These latest allegations, following as they do, the recent release by the Inspector of Prisons of his damning indictment of almost every facet of the operation and management of the AMC, raise serious questions about why the Chief Minister continues to tolerate Shane Rattenbury as Minister for Corrections. It is pretty clear, I would have thought, that he is neither interested in the portfolio or across the issues.”