Anti-bikie laws outrage family of Indigenous prisoner

A Queensland woman claims her husband has been unfairly treated in jail because of his past association with a motorcycle club.

The perimeter fence at Silverwater Jail

(AAP)

Family and friends of Kevin Hill last night gathered outside the Queensland Corrective Services Department offices in Brisbane, to protest the way he was being treated in prison.

The Queensland Government, under new "anti-bikie laws", moved motorcycle club members to the Woodford Correction Centre about 100 kilometres north of Brisbane.

They have been separated and placed into solitary confinement.

Kevin Hill was jailed for assault and sent back to jail for breaching parole.

But Grace Hill said her husband had been moved to solitary at Woodford because of his past connections with bike club The Bandidos.

"He was a model prisoner; he used to train guide dogs and do the Aboriginal paintings for Fred Hollows Foundation," she said.

"It's wrong."

"Why should he be put under [the new anti-bikie laws] and do time for something he hasn't done?"

Gabriel Buckley, President of the Queensland Liberal Democrats political party and a candidate at the upcoming Redcliffe by-election, said several civil liberties groups were sprouting up in Queensland in response to the state government's law-and-order policies.

Mr Buckley, who recently organised a protest in Brisbane which attracted 2000 people, said prisoners with bike-club links were now doing it tough.

"People are certainly being subject to a lot harsher treatment," he said.

"Kevin is a prime example."

NITV News asked Corrective Services Queensland if Kevin Hill was placed in solitary confinement because he was formerly associated with a bike club.

In a statement, the department said:"Queensland Corrective Services is not in a position to provide specific information about the management of individual prisoners."


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Source: NITV News


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