Watches banned in Russian colonies: spy Whelan was the first to suffer

The brother of the American spy Paul Whelan, who is serving a sentence in the Mordovian colony No. 17, appealed to human rights activists. He said that Paul’s watch was taken away, and that made his life unbearable, since he is required to check in every two hours (he is registered as “prone to escaping”). But this is not only his problem. As MK found out, in many Russian colonies, wristwatches began to be confiscated from convicts.

The jailers refer to the new Internal Rules of Correctional Institutions, where the “walkers” for some reason were among the prohibited items. This is nonsense, because at the stage of consideration of the draft of new TACs, human rights activists asked to allow hours for prisoners in the pre-trial detention center. In cells, people now cannot navigate in time, which violates their constitutional rights, because time, like air and water, cannot belong to anyone. But it turned out that watches were not allowed in the pre-trial detention center, and banned in the colonies. Interestingly, even in the PVR of 1992 (30 years ago!) Watches were allowed in general regime colonies.

To begin with, it is worth remembering the “hour prison” story. Watches in places of detention began to be banned during the years of repression. The argument was this – knowing the time, the inmates can calculate the “shift change” of the guards and escape. Then they began to say that the watch could be the subject of bargaining behind bars.

In the 90s in the USSR, watches behind bars were allowed, but not for everyone. As before, they were banned for those under investigation in a pre-trial detention center, for pupils of children’s colonies and prisons (there is a strict regime). Here, for example, in the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation N 333 of 1997, there is a list of things and items that convicts are allowed to have with them, receive in parcels, transfers, parcels, and purchase in stores. Among others, it mentions “wrist or pocket watches made of base metals (except for VC and prisons).” There is also an earlier, dated 1992, similar document, and hours in ordinary colonies are also allowed there. So for at least the last 30 years, “clocks” have been, pardon the tautology, in use. And it didn’t bother anyone. Moreover, it was about allowing wristwatches in the pre-trial detention center. It sounded especially loud when well-known people were behind bars, and they paid attention to the “hour wildness”. Among them is ex-Minister of Economy Alexei Ulyukaev. He was at a loss when he realized that in the cell you need to determine the time by some inner instinct, especially since you can’t see dawn or sunset from the narrow windows, so there’s even no way to do it by the sun, like our ancestors. Then the ex-deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia Oleg Korshunov drew attention to the strangeness. Himself, being behind bars, he could not understand – how could it be that the clock was banned and it was impossible to know what time it was? By the way, it is especially important to know the time for sick prisoners who must take drugs strictly by the hour.

As a result, even some officials of the Federal Penitentiary Service advocated the return of watches to the pre-trial detention center. At several meetings of the department, it was voiced that there was an urgent need to make changes to the TAP, that it should be allowed to sell the simplest cheap watches in the prison stall and (or) equip each cell with a clock.

During the recent preparation of a project for a new TAC, progressive in every sense, human rights activists insisted that watches appear on the list of items allowed in the pre-trial detention center. But in some mysterious way, they were banned even in the colonies instead. Who came up with the idea of ​​taking “time” from convicts? According to rumors, someone in the leadership of the Federal Penitentiary Service.

And at the end of August – beginning of September, in some IKs all over the country, they began to confiscate watches (in others they are afraid to do this – so as not to cause riots). What does this lead to?

“Now I don’t know time at all,” says a convict serving a sentence in one of the Russian colonies. “They took away my watch. Now every day I can be fined for being late for yesterday’s shift, for building, etc. That is, if only some employee has a “tooth” on me, he will not need to invent anything like “didn’t button the button”, “ said hello wrong.” Suffice it to say that I was late for 5 minutes, and that’s it. Several delays – ShIZO.

“I work in a housekeeping unit,” another prisoner says. – Without understanding what time it is exactly now, I will not be able to deliver food on time or clean up the territory. The management knows this, and so far we are not forced to take off our watches and turn them in as “prohibited”. But they are afraid that if there is an inspection by the prosecutor’s office, they will be punished, referring to the new TAPs. Although local prosecutors, according to rumors, believe that this ban (which was not even in the USSR) is delusional.

Human rights activists received a letter from Paul Whelan’s brother David. A relative of an American spy asks about the watch ban innovation.

“He writes that in the Paul Whelan colony there are no clocks either on the walls of the buildings or inside,” says human rights activist Georgy Ivanov. – And with the ban on wristwatches, it became difficult for Paul to check in every 2 hours, as required by the colony.

Let me remind you that those registered as “prone to escape” must sign in a special journal every two hours. David writes that he does not want to complain about the Federal Penitentiary Service (so that Paul does not have even more problems in the colony), but asks for at least some reasonable explanation.

But what can be said here? Human rights activists appealed to the Ministry of Justice with a request to amend the TAP and return the watch.