One of the Northern Territory's most high-profile prisoners has alleged he's being victimised behind bars, sparking a series of complaints about his treatment in the territory's correctional system.
Zak Grieve — an Indigenous man who grew up in Katherine — has always maintained he pulled out of the 2011 contract killing of Ray Niceforo before it went ahead, a version of events accepted by the judge in his trial.
However, under the Northern Territory's mandatory sentencing regime — which prescribes automatic minimum sentences and non-parole periods for some offences — he was handed a non-parole period of 20 years, which was later reduced to 12 years.
Now 11 years into his jail term, Grieve has alleged vindictive prison staff and a lack of rehabilitative programs are causing him "psychological anguish" behind bars, in extensive correspondence seen by the ABC.
Grieve's close personal friend and mentor, the New South Wales-based writer Jo Tuscano, said his family were also shocked to learn he had been transferred from Darwin to the Alice Springs prison in recent months.
"Because Zak's family is based in Katherine, [seeing him is] very prohibitive," she said after visiting Grieve in Alice Springs in December.
"What it means is [that] his family can't visit him at the moment because of the distance."
Grieve allegedly targeted over critical inquest evidence
According to some of the correspondence, Grieve believes he is being targeted because of adverse evidence he gave about the corrections system during a coronial inquest into the death of his best friend, Christopher Malyschko.
Malyschko had been serving time for orchestrating the contract killing that led to Grieve's conviction, when he was found dead in his cell after ingesting synthetic cannabis in 2019.
Grieve was critical of the prison system at a subsequent inquest into the death, telling the coroner synthetic cannabis had become rife in the prison.
He and Malyschko would "self-medicate ourselves to within an inch of our lives" as they battled chronic boredom, Grieve told the coroner.
In a later, handwritten complaint to prison authorities, Grieve wrote that one corrections officer "appears to have made it a personal vendetta to make my life as difficult as possible and I have been on the receiving end of repeated repercussions".
Northern Territory Correctional Services (NTCS) declined to respond to the allegations, saying it could not comment on individual prisoners.
Made to sleep in dead friend's cell
In complaints that were hand-written over about a two-year period — to prison authorities, the coroner and Northern Territory politicians — Grieve also raised other issues, including difficulties accessing day leave, a lack of meaningful reintegration programs and his dismissal from his job in the prison library.
The 30-year-old further alleges he was made to sleep in the cell where Malyschko died, after he was temporarily transferred to a higher-security section of the prison for an inappropriate comment.
Grieve and Malyschko had remained good friends in prison and spent extensive time together before Malyschko's death deprived Grieve of his closest friend.
"The emotional pain of moving [into] that cell has me in melancholy and agony with tears," he wrote.
"I now sleep in his bed."
Responding to one complaint in February this year, Darwin prison manager Jon Jones instructed Grieve to stop complaining about issues such as reintegration pathways and entertainment, saying they had been addressed previously.
His letter to Grieve said that the "incessant complaining about these matters is a drain on resources which need to be focused on other matters" and alleged that Grieve has declined some offender-development programs available to him.
"I am at a loss as to how you feel you have not been supported, that you are not being allowed to pursue avenues you would like to follow is not the same," he wrote.
Ms Tuscano said the loss of Grieve's job as a librarian — which he pursued as part of a post-release plan to become a published author — had seen him languish in prison.
"He felt quite despairing that he lost a job that he loved," she said.
"Meaningful employment is very, very important, particularly for someone like Zak who has a very active mind and [an] active imagination."
Silence on investigation outcome
The ABC has confirmed an allegation of victimisation made by Grieve was internally investigated by NTCS.
That allegation was initially flagged anonymously in the coroner's findings into Malyschko's death, but it's unclear what happened next.
"It was said that the prisoner had been made to reapply for his position and was then sacked," the coroner's findings said.
"The corrections commissioner in December 2020 assured him there was no victimisation and there had been a number of process issues (and maybe miscommunication) and the prisoner would be reinstated to his position and an investigation undertaken."
Neither NTCS nor Attorney-General Chansey Paech responded directly to a question about the investigation's outcome, citing confidentiality.
A spokesperson from prison watchdog the Northern Territory Ombudsman said it was restricted from disclosing if any complaint had been lodged.
The coroner's office said the matter had since been finalised.
"The commissioner of Correctional Services responded to the coroner, indicating that he had investigated the matter and any actions taken in relation to Zak Grieve and prejudice suffered by him had been rectified," a spokesperson said.
The inquest found NTCS had failed to provide activities for prisoners to do in the evenings, and there were limited educational opportunities, which led to boredom and increased drug use.
Since then, the Northern Territory's correctional centres have struggled beneath the burden of record prisoner numbers, with concerns about disruption to programs and a shortage of staff raised in recent months.
In 2018, the Northern Territory Administrator reduced Grieve's non-parole period by eight years after a plea for mercy.
Grieve will be eligible for parole in October next year.
