Inmate's blog tells of life behind bars

National's Simon Power described Selwyn's letters as a travel log. Picture / Bastiaan Beentjes

A political activist behind bars on sedition charges is graphically detailing incidents of prison yard violence on a website blog - and the Department of Corrections is doing nothing to stop him.

Since being jailed this month, political activist Tim Selwyn has contributed to current affairs newsblog www.tumeke.blogspot.com, a forum where he gives a unique insight into the goings-on behind Mt Eden Prison walls.

Despite strict policies over incoming and outgoing mail, Corrections has so far turned a blind eye to Selwyn's letters to website owner Martyn "Bomber" Bradbury about his life behind bars.

In his latest blog, Selwyn writes about a violent bust-up at Mt Eden a fortnight ago, when a prisoner was thrown into a concrete wall then beaten by a group of fellow inmates.

Also while behind bars, Selwyn has used the blog to criticise the sentencing judge in his case, and to continue promoting his claims that the Crown acted "illegally and unconstitutionally" in the case of the foreshore and seabed legislation.

National's Corrections spokesman Simon Power yesterday described the situation as ridiculous, asking how an inmate could be allowed to write what was basically a travel log from jail.

"The whole point of going to prison is to be deprived of some of your liberty.

"This doesn't appear to be happening here," Power said.

He was also concerned that Selwyn's blog could compromise prison security, especially if he was allowed to write about essentially anything he wanted to.

Power said he would this week be asking questions of the Minister of Corrections in the House about the blog and demanding what steps were going to be taken to shut it down.

"What next? What's to stop [inmates] using mobile phones to take photographs and then transmitting them on the web?

"We could then have another version of [reality television show] Big Brother," he said.

Corrections refused to answer specific questions about the blog, saying only "there were a variety of ways prisoners could legitimately send messages outside of the prison".

Bradbury said it would be a shame if Corrections now stopped Selwyn's letters to the website.

"It's an incredible insight into life in prison. We have all these stories about prisons being hotels - now we can find out what really goes on.

"Isn't it great that we find out about the sort of environment there is in prison?"

This month, Selwyn was sentenced to two months in jail on the rare charge of sedition following his involvement in an axe attack on Prime Minister Helen Clark's Auckland electorate office.

Following the attack, Selwyn distributed two sets of pamphlets where he called upon all like-minded New Zealanders to take similar action, an act which was later judged by the court to be seditious.