Tony Kellisar was jailed for 22 years after he strangled his wife in 1997. He was then in limbo in immigration detention before being released in 2023, but his freedom was short-lived.
A man who spent two decades in jail for killing his wife before putting her body into a wheelie bin filled with acid has gone on hunger strike at a detention centre in Nauru, sewing his lips together in protest after being deported from Western Australia last month.
Tony Kellisar, 64, is on day six of his hunger strike, claiming he has been unable to leave his room in what he describes is a “hellhole prison camp” after being transferred there from WA’s Yongah Hill Detention Centre. Iranian-born Kellisar was transferred to immigration detention in 2019 after serving 20 years for the murder of Svetlana Podgoyetsky, who he strangled in Melbourne in 1997 before driving her body to Sydney.
However, Kellisar was one of 150 detainees released in November 2023 after the High Court ruled that indefinite detainment was illegal. For 15 months, the former soldier, who fled to Australia as a political refugee in 1990, lived and worked in WA, renting an East Perth apartment where he worked and received a certificate III in civil construction, his HR licence, mining dump truck licence, white card, and loader, excavator and bobcat licence.
Tony Kellisar was transferred to immigration detention in 2019 after serving a 20-year sentence for killing his wife, Svetlana Podgoyetsky, in 1997. Kellisar worked casually but said wearing an ankle bracelet and being bound by a 10pm to 6am curfew made mining and night shift work difficult, leading to him picking up warehouse and maintenance work where he could.
However, the decision to release Kellisar was overturned late last year, and he was returned to detention, where he launched a number of High Court appeals – to no avail. A $2.5 billion deal between Australia and Nauru late last year then saw Kellisar transferred to the island on May 6, where he said conditions were “hell on earth”. The deal would, a decision which has garnered criticism from the opposition and human rights activists.
“I have a severe asthma and diagnosed in Australia with complex PTSD because I was traumatised during the Iran-Iraq war as a combat soldier. “My desperation turns into depression. I am a prisoner in my room due to the horrible climate in Nauru. Others are the same.
” Kellisar has collapsed twice since he got to the island, both times needing to be hospitalised. He said the facility is “filthy” and “in a terrible state”.
“The rooms are full of flies because the doors are open and most of windows have a broken glass,” he said. Kellisar claimed food on the island was so expensive he could only afford to eat once a day.
“Fruit is a luxury item for detainees and no one can afford it. Our family and friends cannot send us any money because the Nauruan government does not allow detainees to open a bank account on the island,” he said. Kellisar said a Libyan man who is wheelchair bound was sent to the island on May 27, despite there being no disabled facilities.
The man cannot leave his room without the assistance of other detainees, cannot cook for himself, and has difficulty accessing the toilet. Kellisar said he would continue to protest and remain on hunger strike until he passed out, and wants to be returned to detention in Australia, or “to another country with a different climate”. Suicide prevention researcher and custody advocate Gerry Georgatos said the Nauru prison camp was an “outpost gulag”.
“At 64 years of age, the practical reality is that this may amount to a life sentence of exclusion,” he said. “The conditions in detention are abominable. Stir-crazy existence in a small squalid hovel, a grotesque corral of human misery.
“No sentencing judge imposed that outcome. No criminal court ordered that outcome. Yet it has become the reality. ”“The crime committed was reprehensible,” he said.
“The sentence was served. The debt to society, as determined by the judiciary, was paid in full. A Home Affairs spokesperson said the department could not comment on individual matters, but the Nauru government was responsible for managing “settled persons” under the countries’ agreement.
“Settled persons are granted a Long Term Stay Visa, by the Government of Nauru, for a minimum period of 30 years,” they said. “Settled persons have freedom of movement including the right to depart and re-enter Nauru should they wish. “Holders of a Long Term Stay Visa have work rights, access to local transport, health services including telecommunication and telehealth, welfare and education services.
“Nauru have established processes to address medical concerns for settled persons in Nauru, including access to a range of physical and mental health supports. ”
Please follow us on Google to support us Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Jonathan Brown credits wife's nagging for life-saving brain tumor discoveryFormer Brisbane Lions champion Jonathan Brown revealed on Fox Footy how his wife Kylie's insistence on a brain scan led to the detection and successful removal of a golf ball-sized tumor, sharing his emotional journey from diagnosis to recovery and reflecting on the AFL's current standings.
Read more »
Christian Petracca and wife announce beautiful family newsThe Gold Coast superstar and social media cooking sensation is about to enter a new chapter.
Read more »
Media Mogul Antony Catalano Allowed to Travel to See Wife Despite Assault ChargesAntony Catalano, former Domain CEO, had his bail varied to allow interstate travel to see his wife Stephanie in Byron Bay. He faces charges including threats to kill, assault, and unlawful imprisonment after an alleged attack in their St Kilda home. CCTV footage reportedly shows him dragging her by hair and brandishing an iron.
Read more »
Copper theft from demolition sites rampant in Perth despite lawsCopper theft from demolition sites is now the norm in Perth, with thieves risking electrocution, falls and asbestos exposure to get the scrap metal. Legislation introduced in 2020 to monitor scrap copper sales has had little effect. Global copper prices have skyrocketed, rising from $7.86 per kilogram in 2017 to $20 today, driving the thefts. A demolition contractor reports thefts at up to 80% of sites, with thieves acting quickly, often before demolition begins, exposing asbestos and costing building owners thousands.
Read more »