Issue # 19-2009. Content

The issue opens with a collection of short stories by Aleksandr Khnykov entitled The Inmates. Each separate story is a sketch of a small event or a person but all of them together provide a surprisingly precise description of the atmosphere of prison life.

The Punishment of Society section contains statistics on prisons around the world. Here the reader can find information on the number of inmates in European countries, types of crimes, age of criminals, etc.

An article by Djinna Litinskaya The Almighty Word is dedicated to the disproportionate consequences sometimes resulting from the wording of an evaluation document issued to a person by some low-ranking official.

The issue offers official statistics of crimes committed in Russia during the first 6 months of 2009 and the same period of the previous year and a comparative analysis of both figures.

The main character of Aleksandr Mulenkos short story Revenge is a typical director of a typical prison with his typical phobias, fears and predilections.

As in every issue of the magazine, traditionally included is our Monitor of Protest Actions by Prisoners. This issue covers protest actions over the period of March through June of 2009.

Juridical Practicum by Yuri Aleksandrov explains recent regulatory changes in such areas as transportation under guard, probation, restriction of punishment for crimes against minors, etc.

Serguei Minins pamphlet Town-Garden sarcastically describes how police buy admissions of guilt from random suspects for crimes committed by somebody else.

In Beyond the Wall section, two short stories by Aleksandr Avgust are published under the common title of Crazy Life. Both stories are based on autobiographic material of this former patient of a psychiatric hospital.

The issue further presents two articles by Roman Chorny, president of Saint-Petersburg Civil Commission on Human Rights, The Chronicle of Violations of Human Rights in the Psychiatric System of the Russian Federation and Who Will Stop Injustice in the Yellow Houses of Saint-Petersburg? The articles draw on facts established by the Commission and reflect its efforts to defend Human Rights.

In History section, we publish Aleksei Mokrousovs review of Memoirs of a Former Infantryman and Prisoner of War by Yuri Apel and a short abstract from that book.

Nevolia. Issue # 19-2009. Print version (PDF, Russian, 723Kb)