Fantastically shameless and vicious people work in the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN, Russia’s prison service). Remember, I wrote about the unfortunate guy they labeled a “persistent violator” just so they could throw him into my punishment-cell block (SHIZO, a punitive isolation cell), making my life harder? Well, here’s what happened. He served his 15 days, mildly shocked by what was going on and deeply shocked that, lame as he is, he had to climb up to the top bunk, and then he got out. And two days later—ta-da!—they bring him back again. The poor man was thrown into SHIZO for another 15 days for “smoking in a prohibited area.” I mean, sure, it’s obvious the goal is to get at me, but you can’t use a living person this shamelessly as a tool. They came up with this brilliant idea of “let’s throw an unwashed inmate in with him,” and got it approved by FSIN chief General Gostev in Moscow. I was told he personally signs off on these things and demands new ones so he can report back to his superiors. But no one even spared a thought for the “unwashed inmate.” What is it like for him to sit in SHIZO? Can his health even handle it? To them, people do not exist; he is just a talking object they can use however they want. Right now he’s sitting here with his head in his hands, not understanding what he’s supposed to do or why all this is happening to him. And I’m explaining to him that he needs to become the cleanest inmate in the penal colony, and then using him will stop making sense. Still, it’s important not to overdo it—after all, the guy is serving time for beating his drinking buddy to death with his bare hands 😉