"Black Dolphin", "Fiery Island", "White Swan", "Polar Owl" ... By a strange irony of fate, strict life-sentence prisons in Russia bear the most beautiful and even poetic names. It contains those sentenced to death and those whose sentence did not manage to be executed due to the ban on the death penalty, and those sentenced to life imprisonment. They are not allowed to give hands, they do not participate in the census, the sentence struck them out of the lists of the living, but they live.
Highest punishment in the world
In many countries of the world, the death penalty is life imprisonment. Nevertheless, about 70 states decide for the convicted person to live or not to live. Although many international organizations do not agree with the death penalty, it still remains a widespread form of punishment.
High rates of capital punishment traditionally occur in several countries. About 1800-8000 people are killed every year in China. In second place is Iran, about 150 criminals. In third place is Saudi Arabia - from 80 to 100 executed. And the last in such a list of the United States, on average 60 people a year are sentenced to death there. In total, there are 20 thousand prisoners in the world awaiting the execution of the death penalty.
Capital punishment in Russia
In the Russian Federation, the death penalty was abolished, or rather replaced by life imprisonment.
Last time capital punishment in Russia was made in 1996, then the sentence was executed over a serial maniac. Sentenced to capital punishment in the 1990s, they began to be transferred to colony of life imprisonment and provide them with appropriate conditions. Prior to the abolition of the death penalty, suicide bombers were held in some prisons - Novocherkasskaya, Butyrka, Kresty.
Who are they, life-long prisoners of Russia?
In all the Russian colonies intended for those sentenced to life imprisonment, not only the categories of citizens who were assigned this measure are serving their sentences. Most of these people deserve to be shot, but for lack of the death penalty in our country, we had to replace it with life imprisonment.
- Most life-sentenced prisoners committed more than one murder. According to statistics, about 30% of minors become victims of killers.
- Accused criminals in 40% of cases are alcoholics and drug addicts, with mental disorders due to the use of alcohol and drugs.
- The average age of those sentenced to capital punishment is about 33 years, at the time of the conviction they basically had no families or were divorced.
- The level of education is usually not the worst, about 60% of criminals have specialized secondary education, 10% with higher education, and only the rest of the masses have incomplete secondary education or even not even have 7 classes of a comprehensive school.
- Not engaged in any labor activity - 65%, having unstable income - 18%, the rest had low-paid work, or students.
- Among the total number of convicts, 10% are serial killers.
- Concomitant illnesses of criminals: 40% are ill with tuberculosis; gastrointestinal ailments - 38%. Also among the punished are common HIV infections, sexually transmitted infections and other, no less “pleasant” diseases.
Isolation from society
According to statistics, criminal individuals pose an ambiguous danger to society, as well as to convicts of other categories. Therefore, life-long prisoners are kept in isolation from others and separately among themselves in specially designed colonies.Upon arrival at the prison, they are placed in separate cells designed for one person, less often than two. In the latter case, the cellmate is selected according to personal characteristics, this is done by psychologists working in each prison institution. In the case when the criminal is especially dangerous and does not make contact with other prisoners, he stays in solitary confinement until the end of his days, which is measured in several steps.
Colonies where life imprisonment is serving
In Russia, there are now several institutions that contain criminals sentenced to life imprisonment. Not a single escape was recorded from these colonies; at present, several thousand dangerous criminals are kept in such places. Life imprisonment prisons in Russia are known in criminal circles under the names "Vologda Penny", "Polar Owl", "Black Dolphin", "White Swan" and others. These are special places where true evil lives its days.
Even the most notorious criminals and repeat offenders pray to God never to end up in such a place. A strict regime, and the corresponding contingent - killers, maniacs and terrorists. In conditions of complete isolation, here, year after year, the hours to the end of their days are counted by those whose fates are written in blood.
Colony Nutrition
Almost no one is burdened with work in the colony, but the living and food conditions are monitored strictly. Prisoner lunch, as in a pioneer camp: first, second and compote. Chicken meat, not less than 100 grams - separately, so that the convicted person could immediately assess whether the piece corresponds to the norm.
Not so long ago, it seemed to one prisoner in one of the colonies that they were not reporting meat to him on a plate, and he complained, and immediately to the prosecutor. Since then, every prisoner can and look like, and if he doubts, and weight. Many of the convicts say that they do not need to be released when conditions allow them to live carefree in the colony. Like, they will feed and drink here, but if I went out into the wild, I would have to think for myself.
"Black Dolphin"
In the zone called "Black Dolphin", there is the largest number of people sentenced to life imprisonment. About 800 cannibals, serial killers, pedophiles ... Almost half of the verdict is execution.
Andrei Volynets committed three murders with particular cruelty. In 1996 he was sentenced to an exceptional sentence, and in 1999 a court sentenced him to life imprisonment. Over the years spent here, not a day goes by so that the victims of his crimes do not appear in his memory. As the head of the colony explained, after the introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty, all prisoners hope for release, there is not one who would not dream of re-entering the will, returning to a society that refused them.
The colony "Black Dolphin" - one of the oldest prisons in Russia, dates back to the reign of Catherine II. These places are still remembered by the uprising of Emelyan Pugachev. In the entire history of the prison in Sol-Iletsk there has not been a single attempt to escape, let alone the escape, riot, or any kind of social conspiracy.
Conclusion conditions
The cameras are designed for one or two places, equipped with toilets, sinks for hygiene. In the same corridor there is a bath and laundry room with round-the-clock hot water. Iron doors and bars are equipped with the latest electronic security systems and mechanical locks. Around the clock video surveillance. Movement from cell to cell or to the rooftop walking patio occurs in a bent form when the convict’s eyes rest on the floor. Hands are cuffed at the back and raised up.
According to the rules, each exit is accompanied by a group of security guards with specially trained dogs, which fully ensures the safety of the prison staff and does not push the prisoners themselves into circumstances conducive to escape or a new crime. But even in such corridors, inveterate villains come across.The real cannibal Vladimir Nikolaev, the first time he killed a drinking companion, did not even suspect that the meat would go to dumplings ... He was given a life sentence.
Medical service
About seventy life-long prisoners are registered with a psychiatrist. Basically, they have a disorder of behavior, psychopathy. Criminals, with life sentences, undergo preventive examinations several times a year, including laboratory tests. Every day, 7-8 prisoners visit the dental office, including prosthetics. In case of surgical complications, doctors from the city clinic are called in and, if necessary, surgery is performed. In the "Black Dolphin" a terrible disease, tuberculosis, was practically defeated. First of all, due to the controlled intake of medicines, nutrition and sterile cleanliness in all rooms. Recently, the death rate of prisoners has sharply decreased. Life expectancy is almost as free as all prisoners strive for.
Leisure and work
The priest's sermon is another psychological outlet. There is also a library in the zone, with almost 10,000 volumes, the Russian classics are particularly successful. They read Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Yesenin, Bulgakov, but this is in their free time.
The working and resting conditions here are rather harsh. You can only sleep and rest or even sit on the bed during the time allotted for rest. In addition to faith, another salvation within the walls of the prison is work. However, even in such places people come across with business, as the jailers themselves say, very confused. Do not renounce the sum or the jail - this truth was also known to the former head of the UGO, the lieutenant colonel of the police, who had been pulling the strap in the most cruel prison for ten years, serving a life sentence in Russia.
Conclusion
About 2,000 rubles a month are spent on food for one criminal, plus bath accessories, bed linen and clothes — a total of 5,000 rubles. Many law-abiding residents of remote villages in Russia do not even dream of such money, most of them are unemployed. Colony workers in the debate about the abolition of the moratorium on the death penalty oppose. Although they are sure that 99% of those serving their sentence have received their deserts, while there is a zone, there is work.
Is capital punishment necessary in modern Russia? Some believe that for those who have committed murder and serious crimes, the death penalty is needed. She is a deterrent to inveterate criminals. Others argue that it is impossible to kill a person, even the worst. Black and white, as two sides of life. On the one hand, life imprisonment is good. On the other hand, many believe that criminals simply evade punishment. They are not deprived of life, allowing them to exist in relatively tolerable conditions.
