Cutlets, nudity: former prisoners of US prisons called joys for Bout at large

Victor Bout, who spent many years in an American prison, is now trying to recover with his family. It looks like he’s going to have a long recovery period. There is no special program for the adaptation of Russians who spent a lot of time behind bars in a foreign land. But that’s for now. Perhaps the experience of the pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, other ex-prisoners of foreign prisons will form the basis for its creation.

About what awaits Viktor Bout and how Russian prisoners of American prisons “warmed up” at home in the past – in the material of the MK observer.

Almost all former prisoners of American prisons, whom I interviewed, made up a kind of top of desires – what they wanted to do and did upon returning to their homeland.

So.

The first is communication with loved ones in a homely atmosphere.

“I had the feeling that you couldn’t breathe in them,” he says. Mira Terada, who spent more than a year in solitary confinement in an American prison. – I want to look at them endlessly and talk. And all this is at home. I had a mobile phone at home, but I deliberately did not buy a SIM card so as not to call anyone and so that no one would call meill.

Second, take a bath.

It is clear that in the prison (neither in the American nor in the Russian one) there is no bathroom. But the point, as former prisoners say, is not only this. According to them, they wanted to lather with odorous products – gels, soap, shampoo. The fact is that there are almost no smells in the prison, and if they are present, then they are state-owned.

And, by the way, some said that they drank a lot of water straight from the tap, and could not get drunk, it seemed so tasty. And all because the water in the prison is very chlorinated, and during the pandemic, the amount of bleach was even increased.

In general, during the period of serving a sentence in a prison abroad, all Russians, according to them, instinctively sharpened their hearing, smell and taste buds. This was necessary in order to survive (for example, they listened to the steps of the guards in anticipation of a round or serving food). But all of them lacked vivid sensations – beautiful sounds, fragrant smells, delicious food. And they try to make up for all this in the first days of staying at home. As one of the prisoners said, the most incredible effect on him was the smell of cutlets that his wife had cooked.

Third, go naked.

Yes, don’t be surprised. In any prison in the United States, a person is always dressed, and he cannot afford to be even partially naked.

The fourth is to lie down and sleep in a comfortable bed.

The beds in American prisons are hard, and there is no pillow at all (a mattress on one side with a slight rise for the head).

Fifth – to walk in the fresh air and listen to Russian speech.

“Victor, like me, was in solitary confinement,” says Mira. – This is how we differ from other prisoners – Yaroshenko, Osipova, etc. (they all lived in barracks). I sat like this for more than a year, and Viktor in general for many years in such conditions.

The only speech you hear is that of the prison system staff who speak English. As a result, you even begin to think in English. And after returning to my homeland, it gave me inexpressible pleasure just to walk down the street and hear Russian speech. I wanted to observe people, how they interact. I became so wild that I was glad – there are people around me, and I am connected with them!

Fifth – shopping in stores.

It seems amazing to be able to choose and buy whatever you want. Therefore, all ex-prisoners of American prisons soon find themselves in shopping centers, where they walk between shelves and rows with amazed faces.

I saw Konstantin Yaroshenko just a couple of days after his release. I remember he was a little agitated. He did not hide his joy, tried to engage in human rights activities (which he did in the end). And now, almost eight months after his release, he fully adapted to the new reality.

– Horrors do not torment, – says Konstantin. Still, time heals. But sometimes it happens – you wake up in the middle of the night with the thought: “Where am I?” I look around and calm down – at home, everything is in order.

Konstantin says that the first days after his return he was engaged in the restoration of documents. I received the passport quickly, but the driver’s license was not immediately – I had to go to the Rostov region, where he comes from. But at home he immediately fell under the care of the local Ministry of Health.

– I went through a really in-depth medical examination, passed a lot of tests. Based on the results, I was prescribed a course of treatment and rehabilitation, and also gave recommendations that I still follow.

The first thing I did was to restore the teeth, which were damaged in prison conditions (especially given the torture suffered in Liberia). Psychologists, psychiatrists and neuropathologists worked with me. Passed many different tests.

By that time, I had already spent about a month with my family, so I was in a more or less normal psychological state. But the echoes of the conclusion in the American prison remained.

One of the most healing remedies for ex-prisoners is to get active. Konstantin Yaroshenko is now actively involved in helping Russians who are detained and kept behind bars in different parts of the world. As a member of the Public Chamber, he also participates in drafting bills.

Mira Terada says that it took her much longer to rehabilitate than Yaroshenko. At first, communication with a person who went through this, a Libyan prisoner, a sociologist, helped a lot. Maxim Shugalei. He was in touch 24 hours, listened, advised. He also suggested how to socialize or, more simply, to adapt. His support, according to Mira, had a greater effect than any rehabilitation measures.

“There are several important challenges faced by someone who has returned from prison from another country,” says Mira. – You need to get used to new technologies and even new laws. The person is informationally behind. In prison, all information is “filtered”, censored. I was given newspapers, from which pieces of tests were cut out (they are cut out specifically for this or that prisoner). It took me about a year to “catch up” with time, to fill in the information gaps. To do this, I read a lot, watched movies.

But the most important thing: you understand that you are in a world where everything is available and where everyone is friendly. It’s important to learn how to use it.