In two years in prison, the only truly original story I have is about a madman. Everything else has happened many times and been described many times, but this—I had never seen or heard of before. What is the SHIZO, the punishment cell where I am kept without a break? It is a narrow corridor with cells on both sides. Two people in cells facing each other can talk without even raising their voices. That is precisely why the cell opposite mine was always empty. Then, about a month ago, they put a madman in the cell across from me. There are plenty of videos online of people who believe demons and devils have possessed them. It is very much like that: every so often a guttural, growling howl starts up and goes on for hours. He screams for 14 hours during the day and another 3 at night. For a month now I have been completely stunned by this, and every inspection begins with my demanding that they move the madman somewhere else. At night it is impossible to sleep, and during the day impossible to read. They do not move him. Then the wonderful truth comes out: the madman had been serving time elsewhere (24 years), and a month ago they specially transferred him here and are keeping him in SHIZO so that, so to speak, I would not get bored. I have to admit the idea works: I am neither bored nor able to sleep properly. It is especially delightful when you are sick: during the day you lie in your cell with a fever, longing for night, when they will unfasten the bunk, and at night you listen to your neighbor’s lively barking. As is well known, sleep deprivation is one of the most effective forms of torture. But as usual, in situations like this, what amazes me is something else. They had a plan, you see. You cannot just transfer a prisoner on a whim; there is a rule that a sentence must be served in a single penal colony. And this was clearly an order from above: put pressure on him. Then the generals and colonels below held a meeting. And someone, wanting to stand out, said: “We have an inmate in such-and-such camp who is sick—he screams day and night. Let’s send him to Navalny.” And the moral of the story is simple: Russia’s prison system—the FSIN (Federal Penitentiary Service)—is run by a real collection not just of scoundrels, but of genuinely sick perverts. With them there is always some extra twist: all those notorious rapes with mop handles, electric immersion heaters shoved into people’s rectums, and so on. An evil person who was otherwise normal would never think of such things. Everything you read about the horrors and fascistic crimes of our prison system is true. With one correction: reality is even worse.