One of the components of imprisonment in Russia is transportation, that is, the delivery of a prisoner from one place to another, first of all, from a pre-trial detention center to a colony. Often this process takes place in almost complete obscurity: neither the relatives of the person being transported nor the lawyer know where he is for a long time. OVD-Info describes various parts this process.
In March, human rights activists in the Chelyabinsk region raised the alarm: film director Oleg Sentsov, sentenced to 20 years in a maximum security colony in the “Crimean Terrorists Case,” had already left the region for two weeks in prison, and nothing had been heard of him. Sentsov and the second person convicted in the case, anti-fascist Alexander Kolchenko, arrived in the Chelyabinsk region back in February, after which Kolchenko was transferred to one of the local colonies. At that time, there was only unofficial information about Sentsov that he was going to be sent to Yakutia.
Human rights activists, members of the regional Public Monitoring Commission for Places of Deprivation of Liberty Nikolai and Tatyana Shchur published an appeal to their colleagues about Sentsov. It was picked up on social networks, after which unofficial information appeared about the whereabouts of the convict: Irkutsk lawyer Vladimir Lukhtin wrote on Twitter that Sentsov was in the Irkutsk region, and from there “by air (that is, by plane - OVD-Info) went to the Yakutsk pre-trial detention center.”
Finally, it became known from Sentsov’s sister that he was in Yakutsk - first he was “found” in a pre-trial detention center, then it turned out that he had been there for five days and was being transferred to a colony. All this time, no one gave official comments about Sentsov’s whereabouts.
Convicted in the same case, Gennady Afanasyev, who was already serving a sentence in the Komi Republic, suddenly found himself in Moscow in May, in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center, and, according to Zoya Svetova, a member of the Moscow POC, human rights activists discovered him only on May 11, and they brought him there still May 2, together with another Ukrainian prisoner, Igor Soloshenko, convicted on espionage charges.
The relatives and lawyers of Sochi air traffic controller Pyotr Parpulov, who was sentenced to twelve years in a maximum security colony on charges of disclosing state secrets, were recently in the same uncertainty. On April 15, he was sent from Krasnodar to Moscow to consider the appeal. Later it became known that he was placed in a pre-trial detention center in Volgograd. And only at the beginning of May he was discovered in Moscow, in “Matrosskaya Tishina”.
These stories gave reason once again to think about what is happening in Russia with the transfer of prisoners, especially those who are subject to political persecution.
Traffic control
Prisoners can be transported to other cities and even regions even before their sentence. Those under investigation are sent to another region to conduct investigative actions. This happened, for example, with Leonid Razvozzhaev, who, in addition to organizing and preparing to organize mass riots, was also accused of robbery with the theft of a shipment of fur hats in Angarsk. Despite the fact that the statute of limitations for this episode, which allegedly took place in 1997, had already expired, at the end of 2012 he was transferred from Moscow to Irkutsk region(and the lawyers did not immediately know where he was) and only three months later they brought him back. During this time, the robbery case was closed, but both in Irkutsk and Chelyabinsk, where Razvozzhaev was stationed for some time on the way there and back, he, as he said, was subjected to “monstrous pressure,” inducing him to cooperate in the main case.
It happens that the court and the pre-trial detention center are located in different cities. Thus, during the trial, Rostov journalist Alexander Tolmachev, accused of extortion, was continually transported from pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Armavir to the temporary detention center at the Kushchevsky district police station (his case was heard by the Kushchevsky district court) and back - until the next hearing.
Armavir, pre-trial detention center No. 2. Photo: 86137.RU
Transfer from a pre-trial detention center to a temporary detention facility for investigative actions and court hearings is regulated by the law “On the detention of suspects and accused of committing crimes.” It states, in particular, that in such cases a person under investigation or a defendant can be held in a temporary detention facility for no more than ten days. Tolmachev was left in the temporary detention center for longer periods.
As for the transfer of those already convicted, this procedure is prescribed primarily in several articles Penitentiary Code, as well as in the instructions of the Ministry of Justice on the procedure for sending convicts to imprisonment to serve their sentences. - “Sending convicts to imprisonment to serve their sentence” - assumes that this referral occurs no later than ten days from the moment the pre-trial detention center receives notification of the entry into force of the sentence (in prison language this document is called a “legal”).
But between the actual entry into force of the sentence and the receipt of the “finish”, much more may pass. long term. This, as a rule, explains the fact that some prisoners remain in the pre-trial detention center for quite a long time after the hearing of the appeal court and do not go to the colony, where the conditions of detention are still somewhat better. However, the convict can also be delayed by illness - for example, Sergei Krivov, convicted in the Bolotnaya case, waited for transfer for more than two months, but before that he suffered a myocardial infarction in the pre-trial detention center. Sometimes, after the decision of the appellate court, a person can file a complaint against the sentence to the next instance, the cassation court - then his stay in the pre-trial detention center can be extended.
And they can keep it for a long time without it. Sentsov, Kolchenko, Razvozzhaev spent more than two months in pre-trial detention center after the verdict came into force. Anti-fascist Aleksey Sutuga, convicted of fighting with nationalists (the investigation alleged that he beat one of them with a chair and a hammer) - a little less than two months. Nizhny Novgorod anarchist Ilya Romanov, who was accused of preparing a terrorist attack for exploding a homemade firecracker in his hand, waited three months to be transferred. Another Crimean, Alexander Kostenko, convicted of causing harm to a Berkut fighter on the Maidan - about one and a half months. Many of those convicted in the Bolotnaya case remained in pre-trial detention for a month or more after the decision of the second instance court.
Further, Article 75 of the Penal Code states that the administration of the pre-trial detention center “is obliged to notify one of the relatives of the convict’s choice about where he is going to serve his sentence.” The period within which the pre-trial detention center must notify the relative is not specified. From the pre-trial detention center they can send it to relatives official letter, which says when and where the prisoner left, but it takes a long time. Therefore, both relatives and lawyers have to make various efforts to find out that the prisoner is no longer in the pre-trial detention center. Alexander Kostenko’s lawyer, for example, simply discovered at some point that communication with his client had been lost. The wife of Ildar Dadin, convicted of “repeated violations” of public events, she managed to find out that her husband was being taken to St. Petersburg, but as a result, he ended up in a different pre-trial detention center that she was told about at first. Dadin himself reported in a letter to his release that he learned about the transfer when he was directly ordered to pack his things “to go out” (in the pre-trial detention center in this case they say “ordered”). Meanwhile, as a rule, pre-trial detention center staff warn prisoners about the stage the night before (the prisoner is taken to the stage early in the morning - at six or even five o'clock, so there is still little time to get ready).
“I was advised to take more food and less clothing to the prison,” says Aleksei Polikhovich, a convict in the Bolotnaya case who was recently released. - More food, because it’s not clear how long the journey will take - you may have guesses, but it’s never clear exactly where you’re going - and you can travel on a train for a long time and change many transit prisons, you can stay in transit prisons for a month. Semi-finished products that are boiled are very popular in prison - all sorts of “rolltons”, soups instant cooking, porridge made from cereals that are brewed hot water. And less clothes, because it is not known what zone you will arrive in, and there they can take everything away at the entrance and send it to a warehouse, and if you sit there for several years, then your things will simply rot there during this time. If you’re sitting somewhere in the European part of Russia, it’s easier to later bring what’s missing to your loved ones from outside.”
Where are they taking them?
In accordance with Article 73 of the Penal Code “Places of serving imprisonment” and the order of the Ministry of Justice, the Federal Penitentiary Service must choose a colony for the convicted person in the region where he “lived or was convicted.” The administration of the pre-trial detention center receives information from the Federal Penitentiary Service about free places in the colonies and, on this basis, makes a decision on where to send the person. There are no colonies on the territory of Moscow, and in the Moscow region there are only two general regime colonies - one for men, one for women, so convicts from Moscow are often sent to more remote regions. In this regard, the article of the Criminal Code says: “In the absence of a subject Russian Federation at the place of residence or at the place of conviction of a correctional institution of the corresponding type or the impossibility of placing convicts in existing correctional institutions, convicts are sent, in agreement with the Federal Penitentiary Service, to correctional institutions located on the territory of another subject of the Russian Federation, in which there are conditions for their placement.” In fact, this means that from Moscow a person can be sent anywhere where there are places, not necessarily in the neighborhood.
Of those convicted in the Bolotnaya case, whose sentence came into force in the summer of 2014, three who were imprisoned in Butyrka were sent to one colony in the Ryazan region, and two who were imprisoned in Vodnik were sent to the Tula region, but to different colonies. However, apparently, this was explained not by the choice of the pre-trial detention center administration, but by their registration: those registered in Moscow ended up in the Ryazan region, and those registered in the Moscow region ended up in Tula. Yaroslav Belousov, who was convicted along with them, initially stayed in Moscow because he filed an application for on parole release, and then he was taken to the Stavropol Territory, although he had a little more than a month left before the end of his sentence. As a result, he never made it to the colony there and was released from the Stavropol pre-trial detention center. It is difficult to say whether there was someone’s malicious intent in this story - Belousov is indeed registered in the Stavropol Territory. A more complex story, in which one can see an example of pressure from the system, occurred with the transfer of anti-fascist Alexey Sutuga: he was transferred to the Irkutsk region, where he was registered before the trial, but before the verdict, the family sold the apartment, and Sutuga was discharged from it, but the Federal Penitentiary Service I didn’t allow him to be registered in Moscow.
The decision on where to send those convicted under articles of terrorism or involvement in extremist organizations is made directly by the Federal Penitentiary Service. One of the “Crimean terrorists,” Gennady Afanasyev, who testified against Sentsov and Kolchenko, but refused it at trial, for which he was subjected to pressure from operatives, was transferred to the Komi Republic. This decision was challenged, and the court ordered the Federal Penitentiary Service to explain why Afanasyev was sent to serve his sentence so far from home. The answer boiled down to the fact that there were free places in the correctional colony there. As a result, the court ordered Afanasyev’s right to serve his sentence to be recognized, taking into account Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which recognizes the right to family life. Afanasyev’s defense concluded from this that he will now be transferred closer to home. However, the court immediately refused the request to transfer him to some region neighboring Crimea. On this moment Afanasyev remains in Komi (the Ministry of Justice instructed the Federal Penitentiary Service to prepare documents for transferring him to Ukraine, but then he was given a notification recognizing him as a citizen of Russia).
The actual movement of those being transferred is regulated by Article 76 of the Penal Code “Movement of persons sentenced to imprisonment.” In Moscow in the 1990s, prisoners before the transfer were first transferred to the Presnya pre-trial detention center, which was considered transit, and from there they were transported further. Now it’s happening as Alexey Polikhovich, who was in Butyrka before the stage, describes:
“People are collecting in the morningtwenty thirty , going to the stage, and are put in an “assembly” - a convoy room, unfurnished, with benches. Any movement of a prisoner within the FSIN system goes through “assembly”: if you go to trial, you are also first put into “assembly”. You can sit theretwo threehours and wait. Before a stage you usually wait a long time for the car to arrive. But we didn't wait very long. Everyone has huge trunks, some have two. They are harassing everyone, and they took away my hair clipper. The car is a FSIN paddy wagon, similar in layout to the cop paddy wagon that we used to go to the courts, butdifferentlypainted: the cop ones are blue, and these ones are green. They put you in a paddy wagon and you go to the station. The one who sits in front and who can see the road says where we are going, and everyone tries to guess which station they are taking us to, that is, in which direction they will send us. And in the direction it is approximately clear where you can go. The earth is full of rumors; everyone roughly knows where they are sitting. East direction, Siberia is bad. Karelia is a bad destination. Not far from Moscow -somewherebetter,somewhereworse.
They bring you to the station, they stop at it’s not entirely clear where,somepaths stop. They begin to unload. Unloading a prisoner from a paddy wagon and loading him onto a train is a critical situation for security because there is a possibility of escape. Therefore, the unloading is carried out very harshly: they deliberately yell, scare, instill fear, dogs bark nearby - so that the prisoner does not have the desire to dosomethingnot that. You are running with bags in handcuffs, strapped to another person, one bag on your back, the other in your hands. In this case, you need to bend down to the ground, goose step, then run, shouting “Keep your head down!” so that you don’t understand where you are and can’t get your bearings. That is, either you sit and look at the floor, or you run. A crowd of prisoners reaches the platform -somewhereat the depot, of course, not on the common platform - and is loaded into the Stolypin.”
Transport
Convicts are most often transported by rail in so-called carriages or " Stolypin carriages" The carriages are divided into barred compartments, similar to compartments, into which more than ten people can be crammed. Both men and women can be transported in the same carriage, but, of course, in different compartments. “I saw about six guards in the carriage,” recalls Polikhovich. - When they take you out, one stands by the toilet, and the other leads. A lot here depends on which FSIN team is traveling with you and from which region. It is believed, for example, that the Vologda convoy is the toughest, it has already become the talk of the town. We had ordinary normal men.”
Article of the Criminal Code prescribes that prisoners must be provided with the necessary equipment during transportation. material and household And sanitary and hygienic conditions, clothing according to the season. However, prisoners often encounter problems when being transported in carriages, which the former chairman of the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission Valery Borshchev broadcast on Dozhd in connection with the long transfer of Leonid Razvozzhaev:
“Failure to provide bed linen at night. It is impossible to go to the toilet during long stops. Poor ventilation and lighting of cells, combined transportation of healthy and sick prisoners.”
When Tolokonnikova was being transported, representatives of the Federal Penitentiary Service reported that she was traveling in a compartment with a nurse. Later, Tolokonnikova herself said that she was traveling in an ordinary Stolypin. Now in Chelyabinsk, according to Tatyana Shchur, a member of the local PMC, they have purchased some more comfortable carriages that meet European standards.
“They load everyone into the carriage at random, and then somehow sort them by last name,” says Alexey Polikhovich. - A folder with your personal file is coming with you. Everyone has ordinary folders, but the three of us have huge ones. All three of us (Polikhovich, Andrei Barabanov and Artem Savelov, convicted in the Bolotnaya case, imprisoned in Butyrka - OVD-Info) ended up in the same “compartment”. When they unload, they start running around with these folders, and again a critical situation comes. True, in Ryazan it was more calm, although they also shouted and made noise. It was hot, I remember. They piled into a paddy wagon - all wet, with these bags. From the station they are taken straight to the pre-trial detention center. They take me to the bathhouse. Trouble again."
Krasnodar ecologist Evgeniy Vitishko, convicted for writing on the fence of a dacha, supposedly now owned by former governor Kuban, at the very beginning of the stage, which lasted almost a month, was traveling in a separate “compartment”. “They apparently thought it was dangerous for me or dangerous for someone else to put an ‘Olympic political prisoner’ in a common cell,” he suggested in a conversation with OVD-Info. (Initially, Vitishko was sentenced to a suspended sentence, but shortly before the Olympics, during the preparation of which he repeatedly made statements about environmental problems in Sochi, his sentence was replaced with a real one.) At the same time, in the paddy wagon that was taking him to the station from the pre-trial detention center, Vitishko rode along with the rest of the prisoners. The ecologist rode in a separate “compartment” to the first stop - Volgograd. “The attitude was like everyone else - it was cold everywhere, the food was the same,” recalls Vitishko. Later, no one explained to him what this isolation was connected with. From Volgograd to Tambov he traveled in the general compartment of the Stolypin.
Sometimes they can be transported in a paddy wagon - when the crew of the Arctic Sunrise ship and Greenpeace activists were going to be transported from Murmansk to St. Petersburg, information appeared that they would be loaded into unheated (at temperatures outside down to minus eighteen) buses for prisoners, without toilets, Moreover, all six paddy wagons available in the Murmansk region are used for this. It was planned that the journey would take a day. However, as a result, they were transported in an ordinary carriage. Upon arrival, he was unhooked and driven a kilometer away from the station, after which a bus was picked up and taken to the pre-trial detention center. An airplane like Sentsov’s is used less often.
Photo: Dmitry Gabyshev
In general, those convicted of terrorism (like Sentsov) and involvement in extremist organizations “are transferred or sent only according to personal orders of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia prepared by the operational department,” says the Ministry of Justice instructions mentioned above. - In order to distinguish the above-mentioned persons from other categories of special contingent, a green stripe is applied diagonally on the personal file certificate. The operational department informs the convoy and special transportation department about planned movements outside the boundaries of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation of convicts who are on the operational register.”
Why so long?!
This is the main question that arises in connection with the delivery of prisoners to the colony. A possible answer is because the law does not limit the period of delivery of prisoners in any way. Often, two or even three weeks pass from the moment of departure from the pre-trial detention center to discovery at the final or even intermediate point (transfer). Tolokonnikova, for example, was at the stage for a little less than a month. Those convicted in the “Bolotnaya case” who were traveling to the Ryazan region were lucky - they traveled in only four hours, the same amount of time it takes some ordinary trains from Moscow (and the “Bolotniki” sometimes took longer to travel from the court to the pre-trial detention center). Meanwhile, according to Polikhovich, in the Ryazan pre-trial detention center he met people who were transported from Moscow to Ryazan for a whole month, making strange “detours” with a stop, for example, in Saratov.
This length of the stage in time can also be explained by the fact that prisoners departing from one pre-trial detention center in one carriage must ultimately be delivered to the colonies in different regions, so some of them have to be transplanted. The warning system does not keep up with this and, apparently, does not want to keep up: while a person is at the stage, the FSIN does not tell anyone where he is.
Evgeniy Vitishko, who was being transported from Krasnodar to the Tambov region, spent about ten days at the first transfer in Volgograd, then he was taken to Voronezh, where he was kept for about a week, and finally to Tambov. Here before sending to the localcolony-settlementVitishko spent four days in correctional colony No. 1, which is used as a transit point, - in his words, “in absolutely disgusting conditions: they put thirty in a cell where five or seven people should be, and were given three mattresses.” Later, Vitishko repeatedly complained about the conditions of detention of prisoners, and, apparently , his complaints had an effect, since since then the entire leadership of the Federal Penitentiary Service has been replaced in the Tambov region.
Tambov, correctional colony No. 1. Photo: 68.fsin.rf
Not all prisoners manage to make themselves known by somehow getting to the phone or passing the message through someone. The fact that a person has reached his destination may become known much later than the actual delivery. Article 17 of the Penal Code states that the colony administration is obliged to notify his relatives and lawyer about the delivery of the convicted person no later than ten days from the date of arrival. From the moment when the lawyer missed Alexander Kostenko in the Crimean pre-trial detention center, until he called one of the colonies Kirov region and found out that his client was there, almost a month passed again. Ilya Romanov showed up in a colony in Mordovia more than three weeks after being sent from Nizhny Novgorod (a day earlier it was reported that he could not be found on the territory of the republic).
It happens that a person gets stuck in a transit detention center for a long time before being sent to a colony. Thus, Ildar Dadin has been kept in a St. Petersburg pre-trial detention center for more than 20 days.
But what happened at the stage with Pyotr Parpulov (in
During my long life as a prisoner, I had the opportunity to go through many camps, transfers, tuberculosis zones, health resorts and similar penitentiary institutions, which our Mother Russia is so rich in. If you look at the map of our vast homeland, you can safely outline the route from the Far North in Yakutia to the Karakum desert in Turkmenistan, where I hung out back in the days of the Soviet Union.
Cruise under escort
- Stage
It seems to me that the desire to travel was inherent in me by nature itself. But this, of course, had nothing to do with traveling under escort. Unfortunately, I had to go through one of the difficult stages of my life’s journey in exactly this way.
Hello, forwarding!
After almost a month of ordeal on the northern railways of the country, our stage arrived at the Veslyana station. Even when leaving Krasnaya Presnya, when we were escorted to the station in “funnels,” we already knew the final destination of our route, having given several packs of Pliska cigarettes to two guards for this service, whose machine guns were larger than themselves. It was absolutely no effort for them to look into our escorts. But even in the prison itself, judging by how many loaves of bread and how many herrings were given to each of us, it became clear that the road ahead was long.
Stage by plane
- Stage
Frozen prisoners from Kolyma to mainland transported by plane
It seems that just recently the main topic of discussion in the media was the topic of the so-called “CIA flying prisons.” In fact, we were talking about ordinary military transport aircraft of the American Air Force, which transferred people suspected of participating in the activities of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and the terrorist organization Al -Qaida" in Iraq. But in the United States, there is quite realistically another type of flying prison - airplanes for transporting criminals.
Modern stage for prisoners
- Stage
On February 15, the Board of the Ministry of Justice discussed the reform project Federal service execution of punishments. How to change the principles of detention, conditions of transportation and detention of prisoners? What is modern “”?
Six o'clock in the morning. A convoy is moving along the highway to Yemelyanovo airport. Specially equipped vehicles in which prisoners are transported. The trucks travel at the same speed and at the same distance from each other. An armored personnel carrier with special forces soldiers is always ahead.
Ark for prisoners
- Stage
In this material we will return to the Stolypin cars discussed earlier.
It must be said that Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin, the famous reformer minister of the times of Nicholas II, has only an indirect relation to the carriage that went down in history under his name.
That carriage, which, thanks to the efforts of Stolypin, ran along the Russian railway in 1906, was fundamentally different - solid, cozy, somewhat reminiscent of a house on wheels. In the original “Stolypin” there were two compartments - a living one, equipped with sleeping shelves, tables, seats, easily opening windows to ventilate the room, a high-quality stove with a fair supply of firewood, sufficient for the entire journey. The second compartment was intended for agricultural equipment - seeders, harrows, plows and domestic animals, which the peasants decided to take with them. Of course, this carriage was of a lower class than a passenger one, but it was much better, more comfortable and convenient than the one that we know as a “heater”.
The paddy wagon is a miracle machine.
- Stage
A paddy wagon is a special van, partitioned inside with bars plus two so-called ones on the sides. “glasses” for solitary prisoners who, for one reason or another, need to be isolated from the general mass. Sometimes it's just women.
The vans of some paddy wagons are divided in two lengthwise by a partition - two groups of prisoners are traveling. This is done in order to protect the convoy from rocking the paddy wagon (this is a favorite technique). The build-up (followed by a coup and the fall of the paddy wagon) is one of the ways a powerless prisoner fights for his small rights.
It’s not for nothing that they say: “Don’t swear off money or prison.” It is unlikely that anyone purposefully wants to get to places “not so remote”, but, unfortunately, this sometimes happens. A former prisoner from Chernigov, who was released a month ago, 25-year-old Andrei Martynenko, told journalists of the Internet portal site about the order and morals behind the barbed wire.
Andrey, how did you end up in prison?
A classmate came to see me. He said that he was offended by his stepfather, who drinks constantly and makes scandals. We met with friends and offered to teach my stepfather a lesson. There were three of us. But my classmate did not agree to this option. Then I offered to steal my stepfather’s motor scooter in order to somehow “annoy” him. Everyone supported this idea.
He gave the keys to the gate and the garage, and the three of us stole the scooter. One of his comrades took him to his garage and then tried to sell him. He didn't tell us anything about this. But he was caught by the police while trying to sell, they “pressed” him and he turned all the arrows on me.
When I was already at the police station, I didn’t deny anything. And there was no point. I agreed with the police that I would tell how it all happened, but on the condition that the accomplices would not be touched. Well, firstly, it’s not typical for decent people to turn in their own people, and secondly, he didn’t pull the “locomotive” with him, because for a group crime they would have given a longer sentence.
As a result, at the trial they announced a term of 3.5 years under Article 185 of the Criminal Code.
How did you feel when you arrived at the place of detention? Where did you serve your time?
There were no special emotions. No fear, no excitement. I had already communicated with former inmates, so I roughly understood what awaited me and how I should behave.
At first he spent several months in the Chernigov central prison, then he was transferred to Sumy.
When I was assigned to a cell at the camp, they came to me and said that the “supervisor” wanted to talk to me. The supervisor asked if I had any bad deeds. (The original reads: “Is there something nasty or whore behind you?”). “Blyadskoye” - betrayed someone, pawned someone (for example, during a joint crime, already when they were caught, pawned a comrade). “Gadish” - you live a decent life, but in reality you are not decent (for example, you kept silent about the fact that you are a homosexual).
How many people are there in the cell?
The prison has many barracks with “khats” (cells). "Huts" for 4,8,10,15 people. There are different barges. With workers, thieves, etc. If a prisoner wants to work, he is assigned to a barracks with workers. If you don’t want to work (no one forces you to work), then somewhere else.
I first went to the workers. I was there for a year, gluing the bottoms of the bags. You can work as much as you want. You can work from 9 am to 12 midnight. But they pay very little. For one sealed bag - 2 kopecks. If you can earn 5-6 hryvnia per pack of cigarettes in a day, then that’s good.
Tell us about the hierarchy of prisoners in places of deprivation of liberty. What is the attitude towards each of the castes?
The highest suit is “thieves”. The most authoritative prisoners. Many people know them in prison, city, country. They solve serious matters, can resolve conflicts, hold a common fund, etc. The thieves live “according to the rules”; they are usually even proud of the fact that they ended up in prison. Since you can climb the hierarchical ladder of thieves only with a prison sentence under your belt. For them, prison is a familiar place.
“Men” is a respected color among prisoners. A man is someone who lives decently, mostly people who went to prison for the first time and by accident. For example, he killed someone in self-defense. Or he committed some crime out of stupidity or while intoxicated. To be a man you just need to be a decent person. Do not perform actions that are prohibited and do not have bad deeds behind your back.
"Sneaks." These are those who have bad deeds behind them. Somewhere he ratted someone out, somewhere he snitched on someone, etc. They don’t do business with “sniffs.” You can talk to them, but you can’t chat with them, take a cigarette or anything else from the snoop.
“Omitted” is the lowest caste in prison. They have their own cell, they don’t go anywhere except to the “dalnyak” (toilet), and they don’t touch anything. When an ordinary prisoner walks along the length, the one lowered must stand under the wall so as not to accidentally touch the prisoner. They do the dirtiest work, flush the toilet after others, clean closets, etc. Everything that is shown in films about the rape of prisoners and the like is a long-forgotten story. Now there is no such thing.
How are those who are guilty punished? For example, those who could not pay off their gambling debt.
It happens that they lose at cards. In this case, if there is nothing to pay with, some take risks and steal from their own. When a “rat” is found, he is taken around the cells and the prisoners hit his fingers and hands with a stool or similar things. Naturally, such a person can no longer be called a “man.”
They can put such a debtor on the balls. This means that a person will constantly stand at the door and look through the peephole to see if the police are coming. This is necessary in order to have time to hide all prohibited items in the event of an unscheduled inspection.
There are cases when “men” lost at cards. But there was no way to repay the debt. So, in order not to spoil a person’s life, the thieves paid the “man’s” debt. After which he was “banned” from playing.
If you fail to pay off your debt within the agreed time frame (the deadline for repaying the debt is agreed upon before the game), then you can lose your status as a “man.”
30% of the game goes to the common fund.
What is the daily routine in prison? What about nutrition?
Rise at 6 am. Approximately 15 minutes are given to wash and clean up. Then everyone goes outside for 5-10 minutes to breathe fresh air, after which everyone goes back to the barracks. Well, then everyone does whatever they want.
There are approximately 100 people in the barracks. There are several cells in which prisoners are kept. The cells are open, you can visit others and communicate. You can even go outside without permission.
Feed 3 times a day. 8:30, 14:00, 18:00. Time for food - 15 minutes. They fed us various cereals and potatoes; they rarely gave us meat. In general, food for the prison is brought in sufficient quantities and of normal quality, but everything is taken by the people who work in the kitchen. It is quite possible to buy or exchange this food for something. For example, a pack of cigarettes can be exchanged for a can of stew. That can of stew that is intended for prisoners and is stirred up by administration staff.
In the common barracks there is a stove on which you can cook food. The food is prepared from products donated by relatives or friends.
The food that is donated is stored in refrigerators. There are refrigerators there that not every home has.
Were there any extreme cases during the period of imprisonment?
Yes they were. The caretaker was killed. Everyone went to lunch, and when they returned, the caretaker was already dead. I don’t know who did it and why, but such a case took place.
What about the tradition of drinking chefir?
You can chifir at least every day. This drink requires approximately 3 boxes of tea. Brew for 3-5 minutes, strain and you can drink. It gives an invigorating effect, but it really damages your teeth. One of my teeth has already been pulled out because of chifir. And three more need to be removed.
Among the “decent” people it is customary to drink chifir once a week, getting together and talking. But under no circumstances should you talk to the “decent” people about the lower castes.
What about prohibited items? Phones, alcohol, drugs?
Officially, telephones, alcohol and drugs are prohibited. Some foods are also prohibited. But if you have money or a “broom hanging” (communication skills, ability to communicate effectively), then you can always reach an agreement. Phones, alcohol, drugs - the prisoners had it all. The main thing is not to get caught with such items when checking. Before you buy mobile phone, you must definitely ask permission from the “supervisor” (the main prisoner and authority in the barracks).
And all these things get into the zone in different ways. Starting from being thrown over the fence while walking around the perimeter, and ending with an agreement with the police working in the camp. Money matters a lot.
Why do prisoners need mobile phones?
It's different for everyone. For thieves, so that they can decide matters on the outside; for other prisoners, so that they can call relatives and friends. Well, also resolve your personal issues.
What is absolutely forbidden to do in the zone?
You can't swear. Not a single obscenity or simply offensive word should be heard. Because every word you say will need to be justified. Sent a person to three letters, which means he considered him to be omitted. Only those who have been omitted can be sent. In other cases, it is necessary to justify the presentation. If you couldn’t, then you’ll have to answer for your words. Although fighting is prohibited, it is allowed to beat the guilty. Plus you can easily lose your suit for this.
Everything needs to be explained in human language and communicated culturally. They live in order in prison. Therefore, you need to choose your words carefully and “watch the market.”
Stealing from one's own people is also severely punished. Cooperation with the administration is not welcome.
It is undesirable to say anything, lie, make things up, etc. Otherwise, you can be branded as a balabol.
Have there been any cases when a prisoner had to get into trouble because of his tattoo, the meaning of which has some kind of interpretation in the zone?
I heard that one of the influential thieves “signed that there is no demand for the suit.” Nowadays young people get different tattoos. This modern culture. Although, I think that if someone ends up with old-school prisoners, they can make him answer for the tattoo. But during my stay “behind the fence” there were no such cases.
Still depends on the mode. I served time in prison enhanced mode. In high security prisons everything is much more serious. People there have 3-5 walkers on average. And where I served time - only first-timers, mostly.
What are the features of the enhanced mode?
The enhanced mode is more loyal. More order and less chaos. No one rapes or beats anyone (only in cases where a person deserves it; no one has the right to simply hit a person).
There was a case when prisoners were contacted from outside. They asked to “put down” one prisoner who raped a 7-year-old girl. Or simply make his life in prison unbearable. But no one agreed, since no one has the right to do this.
How do the authorities treat the prisoners?
They constantly press. The administration wants people to live according to their rules. I was beaten a couple of times. There was a time when charging was introduced. Those who agree with the innovation can no longer be called “men.” Because they are “going under administration.” Automatically go into “shnyri”.
So, those who refused to go to exercise were taken to the “duty room” and hit in the legs with batons. And so on several times. If after this the prisoner resists, then he is put “in the pit” (a special room 2 by 2 meters, where there are only bunks that are lowered only at night). They are first placed in the “pit” for 5, 10 and 15 days.
They didn’t beat me for this because I am disabled. But for other disobediences I had to receive punishment from the administration. And some were beaten so much that they were ready to commit suicide.
There was a case when I spoke on a first-name basis with my superiors. I received it for this.
How many times can a prisoner be visited?
A long visit is allowed once every three months. The date lasts three days. You can spend three days with your mother or wife.
Regular visits are allowed every day for two hours. You can also receive broadcasts every day. Anyone who has money lives well in prison. Food, mobile phone, other things, release from some responsibilities, etc. It's all there. There were some inmates who simply allocated a decent amount to the common fund and lived quietly and calmly without worrying about anything.
What needs does the common fund serve? How is it formed?
The "common fund" is formed by prisoners. Everyone contributes what they can to the common fund: money, cigarettes, household items etc. There are simply prisoners who do not have relatives or who do, but they live very far away and they do not have the opportunity to come or make a transfer.
Where can such people get these things? They have no soap, no toothbrushes, no razors. All this comes from the common fund. The “obshchak” is held by the “overseer”.
Everyone contributes what they can. There are no mandatory fees. Everything is possible and according to conscience. We are all human and should help each other.
How to earn authority in the zone?
First of all, you need to be decent and that there are no “jambs” behind the person. You need to communicate with thieves, show interest. Help people, if possible, somehow replenish the “common fund”. It is advisable to visit “holy places”, for example, the “pit”.
Can you trust someone while in prison?
No. You can only trust yourself.
Why do conflicts arise in prison and how are they resolved?
Since everyone understands that they will have to live with people for a long time and that they must somehow make peace with everyone, conflicts rarely arise. Conflicts are resolved by thieves. They ask you to explain the situation and outline your vision of who is right and who is wrong. And then, after listening to both sides, they make a decision.
I had a case where I hit one prisoner. When I went to the “hut”, there was a prisoner there who pretended to be the “supervisor of the hut” (the main one in the cell). There were just grandfathers there, so he took unofficial power over them. He started saying something at me, trying to dictate his rules. Well, I shot him in the jaw. Because in the “hut” everyone is equal, that’s the order.
He complained to the thieves that I allegedly hit him and violated the order. 5 thieves came to our “hut” and told me that this would not happen again. And then, when they left our “hut”, they laughed at this guy. Because he lives as a “man”, and runs around knocking on the thieves, saying that someone hit him.
What contingent is in prison? What are people's deadlines?
The most different people: for theft, drugs, murder. The maximum term is 15 years. Two grandfathers were sitting with me in the “hut”. Both for murder.
One grandfather’s granddaughter brought a guy home, and he was drunk. Something went wrong with this guy and he began to rush at his grandfather, shouting “I’ll kill you,” and began to choke him. Grandfather went into the kitchen, grabbed a knife and stabbed him once. Once was enough to kill. For this murder they gave my grandfather 7 years. They would have given more, but the case was classified as self-defense.
For the second grandfather, the situation is a little different. There was a resident at his entrance who constantly clung to him. Well, my grandfather couldn’t stand it one day and stabbed this neighbor with a knife. Killed. They gave me 12 years.
Red and black zone, how is it?
The red zone is the zone where the administration controls everything. Where order is maintained, there are no prohibited things, where everyone works and behaves obediently. The black zone is the opposite. I was sitting in the black zone.
And in conclusion, advice to those who find themselves in places not so remote. How to behave?
Since this has happened, then there is no need to worry or worry. The people in the zone are the same as those outside. You need to be a decent person in life and then there will be no problems. If a person lives in freedom with dignity, then there should be no problems. It is advisable not to lie. It's always better to tell the truth as it is. Because there are a lot of fellow countrymen who come and know the truth about a person. It is important to watch your words. If you don’t know or aren’t sure about something, it’s better not to say it. Although it's better not to go there.
And in conclusion, I wish all the “men” luck and success, and all the best.
Alexander Skorik
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Those convicted in criminal cases are subject to distribution to correctional institutions, according to the measure of responsibility applied to them.
Until the court verdict comes into force or the documents are being appealed, the convicted persons are kept in pre-trial detention center.
They cannot stay in the isolation ward all the time; it is always overcrowded. Therefore, from time to time, convicts are transported to prisons.
In criminal law this process has a name - transfer of convicts. How the transfer from the pre-trial detention center to the colony occurs, and what requirements employees of executive institutions must comply with, we will talk further.
Conveyance is the forced transportation of convicts in criminal cases to colonies, prisons, and camps. This stage involves the entire journey of the convicted person from leaving the pre-trial detention center to arriving at the colony.
Along this path, the prisoner will experience many new experiences: from long journeys in stuffy, windowless compartments to futile attempts to transport all his property at once.
The decision to transfer a convicted person to a specific colony is made by the management of the pre-trial detention center.
But before this, the pre-trial detention center receives an order from the central department of the Federal Penitentiary Service in Moscow, which indicates which colonies and how many places there are for convicts.
Due to the fact that in many colonies they serve time only for certain types of crimes, the distribution of convicts by pre-trial detention center employees is not an easy task.
IN in a broad sense stage is the path of a convicted person from point A to point B. And this path is not always associated with departure to a colony.
There are other situations in which a convicted person must be transported:
One way or another, the penal system is always associated with various movements of convicts around the country. Our country is huge, which is why convicts sometimes travel for weeks or months.
How long the stage lasts is difficult to answer unequivocally. It all depends on the distance of the colony from the pre-trial detention center.
The exact time of transfer to the convict is not reported. Before departure, the cell is visited by an employee of the detention center, who calls the name and surname of the convicted person who must serve.
It is better to start preparing for the stage immediately after the verdict comes into force.
Sometimes convicts have to wait a long time for their turn at the prison. This is due to the fact that FSIN employees are trying to maximally staff the trains for sending convicts. No one will organize a stage for the sake of one criminal.
Before departure, a detailed search will be carried out in relation to the convict and his property.
Searches will, in principle, be carried out frequently, before and after each movement of the stage. The journey is carried out in special “carriages”. Before railway convicts are transported in special vehicles.
Usually, convicts are taken to a transit prison, from which they are distributed to colonies. Sometimes transportation is carried out without the use of a transit prison.
At their final destination, convicts are quarantined for two weeks.
After the convict arrives in the colony, the administration is obliged to notify his relatives within 10 days.
How to find out where the convicted person is after transfer if the administration has not sent a notification?
In fact, according to general rules after the entry of the sentence and before the convict is sent to prison, he is granted one short-term visit with a relative.
And before sending a criminal to a correctional facility, the administration of the pre-trial detention center must also notify one relative about where the convicted person is going.
But even if none of the relatives received information about the route of the stage, they can clarify this information with a lawyer.
Rules for escorting suspects and accused
Suspects, as a rule, are escorted until trial, and accused are escorted one by one. Convoying in both cases is the rules for accompanying convicts, aimed at maintaining public safety.
The escort procedure is strictly regulated. Violating the rules for escorting convicts can sometimes lead to serious consequences.
It is worth at least remembering the episode with the shooting in a Moscow court, when a girl was escorting dangerous criminals, and the number of escorts did not correspond to the number of convicts.
Convoying prisoners in 2020 is carried out by special departments of the internal affairs bodies. For this purpose, security and escort units are created.
Their tasks include:
- Assistance in the execution of punishment by delivering convicts to colonies, prisons, and isolation wards;
- Assisting in the administration of justice by delivering convicts to the courtroom;
- Protecting public safety from criminal;
- Protecting a criminal from an indignant public.
The composition of the convoy group is as follows:
- Chief of the convoy;
- Assistant Chief;
- Dog handler;
- Escorts.
The convoy can be regular or reinforced. The latter is used in cases where the protection of dangerous criminals is necessary.
In a normal escort, there are 2 guards for 1-2 criminals. With enhanced escorting, there are 3 escorts per 1 criminal.
Escorts always have main and alternate routes. The latter are needed in cases where there is a threat of escape or attack on the car.
Reception of convicts for escort is carried out one at a time in a room where only the convict and the guards are present.
The criminal is subjected to a mandatory search, prohibited items are confiscated from him. The guards are required to enter all information about the convicted person into a special journal.
The search during escort is carried out by one person for every 5 convicts. There is always radio communication with the escort vehicle.
The delivery of convicted or suspects to the courts must be agreed in advance with the prison staff. To do this, a request for the delivery of a particular person held in this institution is sent to the pre-trial detention center.
The request indicates the time and date when the court hearing will take place, the name of the judge considering his case, and is certified by a seal.
Without a properly formalized request for the delivery of a convicted person or suspect, escort will not be carried out.
In the morning, the convoy collects a group of convicts who need to be taken to the courts and transports them. Courts, as a rule, have special closed rooms, the entrance to which is set separately from the main one. It is there that the convicts are brought by a convoy vehicle.
The grounds for establishing a reinforced convoy are:
The convoy must be armed for security purposes. The convict is taken to the courtroom in handcuffs and taken to a cell. Once in the cell, handcuffs are removed through a special window, but not for all convicts.
At least one guard must always be present in court during the hearing.
As a rule, guards change and take turns sitting at the court hearing. Such convicts are always behind bars in the courtroom or in special glass boxes.
You can never know for sure that a convicted person or suspect is safe. There is always a risk of potential danger posed by the person being transported or escorted.
A stage is one of the stages of execution of a sentence, which consists of delivering the convicted person to the place where he will serve his assigned term. The transportation conditions are far from the best.
Convicts travel for weeks across the country in stuffy or cold carriages, without the opportunity to properly eat or wash themselves. This is one of the main tests that a convicted person must overcome at the stage of his correction.