- How did you end up in a Philippine prison?
- This is a very dubious story.
An offer came from a friend who lived in Thailand.
He was looking for someone who could instead fly from Latin America through the Middle East to Southeast Asia and deliver the package.
- What did he ask to take?
- A parcel of local produce for some of his friends.
He argued that this work was legal and safe.
- Did he offer you any money for this?
- There was practically no specific cost.
That is, he said that he was paid a couple of thousand dollars for it.
But I was attracted by the opportunity to travel through these countries.
- Did you pay for the ticket?
- The ticket was paid, the hotel was paid.
- Packed your bags and flew to Peru?
- Yes.
In Lima, I met the man who handed over the package to me.
- What kind of person?
- Some kind of local woman.
She came with a little girl, brought local produce and two more bottles of syrup in a checkered bag.
Everything was packed and looked like it had just come from the store.
And when I flew from Peru to Brazil, everything was fine.
Nobody dug anywhere, nobody stopped anywhere, didn't find fault, didn't ask anything superfluous.
- Then
where
do you fly
from Brazil?
- To the United Arab Emirates.
I am checked in immediately for a double flight: Sao Paulo - Dubai and Dubai - Manila.
- What's going on at the Manila airport?
- I go to the baggage claim tape, and after about ten minutes my bag will leave, already opened.
It is very different from how I passed it.
I leave the baggage claim area, and I am surrounded by people in civilian clothes, with badges, like our taxi drivers in Domodedovo stand.
I'm trying to get past them.
They are like, "No, stop, stop, come with us."
I say: "What happened?"
They answer: "This is standard procedure, we need to check you."
Like: no matter how you worry about anything.
And corridors, corridors lead to a separate room, where they start asking questions.
- What do they ask?
- Where am I from, what am I doing here.
- Did you tell them that a friend asked you to bring things?
- When they already began to ask what I was taking with me, I replied that, among other things, I had a package for friends.
They are like, "Okay, don't worry, it's okay, we need to check your bag."
Two Chinese citizens of Hong Kong are turned up here.
Lolek and Bolek.
One is so thick, the other is thin.
Both are very young.
They pretend they don't understand English at all.
- And the whole dialogue is in English?
- Yes, it's all in English.
Well, I look closely and see: among others there is a white man.
Stands in the corner, as if watching all this.
As I later found out, this was also an employee of the special services, only American.
- What was he doing there?
- Later it turned out that the entire operation of my arrest was supervised by the American special services.
Why they did it, the question remains open.
A new president (Rodrigo Duterte -
RT
)
came to power a couple of months before my arrival in the Philippines
.
He was going to build his policy on the development of relations with China and Russia.
And then it turns out that on a tip from the American special services, a Russian citizen and two more Chinese citizens are being detained.
RT
- Do you think the detention was related to politics?
- Very much like that.
- Before you bags: two Chinese and one yours - with a parcel from a friend. They open these bags. And what do you see?
- They put me next to this bag.
Cut off the tape, which was not there before.
I look - inside this package, you can see the presence of white powder at the edges.
They take samples ...
- Which was not in the package before?
“I couldn't see him.
Even if it were there, all the packages were original.
But now these packages are all opened.
They take a bottle of one of these syrups, pick up from there with a pipette, drop such field testers into their testers.
And the drop gives a blue color, which is a positive result of traces of the presence of cocaine, as they tell me.
The next day, at night, we were taken to the prosecutor's office.
- Is there an indictment there?
- There are indictments.
Smuggling of 8.5 kg of cocaine into the Republic of the Philippines.
- What is the punishment?
- From 20 to 40 years in prison.
- So you find yourself in jail. Do you remember the first night in the cell?
- I am first brought to the pre-trial detention center of The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (Agency for the fight against drugs of the Republic of the Philippines. -
RT
), the so-called PDEA.
- These are the ones who are responsible for drug trafficking?
- Yes.
Brought in in the middle of the night.
People sleep in stacks there.
They gave me such a piece - 50 cm by 1.5 m, probably, or 50 cm by 2 m. I pack everything tightly there, as I can, I just fall and fall asleep.
- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev spoke about you at a meeting with the President of the Philippines.
- Yes.
In 2017, November 13.
- After that, has something changed in your case?
- Yes, I was immediately, literally two weeks later, transferred to much more difficult conditions of detention.
- Tough conditions?
- Much heavier.
Other foreigners were also gathered in a heap from the common camp, and we were all transferred to an unfinished building, which simply fell apart.
The only thing that was strong there was the bars, behind which we were kept 24 hours a day.
If before that I had the opportunity to walk around the territory somehow during the day, move around, play basketball ... then we are transferred to a barrack 500 m seven people.
- And how long did it last?
- Two years in such conditions.
But we achieved that we were first allowed to walk for 15 minutes between the cells in one short corridor.
Then for an hour in the morning, then for two hours.
But they didn't like it, and they left half an hour to an hour only on weekdays.
That is, on weekends, 24 hours a day, we were behind bars.
RT
- How to survive in a Philippine prison?
- Be yourself first of all.
Don't lose hope and faith.
- What are the internal orders there?
- When they bring you to the place where you have to stay for some time, they first put you in quarantine.
This is a completely closed lattice, the absence of water, the absence of any, in principle, human conditions.
That is, there is a rag hanging that separates you from a corner completely littered with debris, dirt and excrement.
And here you are sitting, fenced off by this rag, behind bars.
- One? Is there no one else?
- No, there are 20 more people, maybe violators.
At least a week.
And you think: how to get out of here as soon as possible?
You already want to get into some barracks, to decide on some kind of cell.
And so they start to come.
“We’ll pick you up right now,” they say.
- Give only consent.
- Are these prisoners coming to you?
- Yes, prisoners in the camp, who are divided into specific groups.
You can say they are wooing you.
- What groups?
- "Sigi-sigi Sputnik" is such an international group.
She is also represented in America, Filipino.
- What does this mean and who is it?
- "Sigi-sigi" means "come on," or "go-go".
"Go-go Sputnik".
Well local bandyugans.
Then "Bahala".
This is already a grouping of the more privileged.
It includes representatives of international cartels.
Then BCJ, or Batang City Jail.
And we, "Cuerna" so called.
In Russian it can be called “Unassigned”.
That is, people who were not included in any gangster group, but nevertheless grouped.
So, they each come up in turn and say: “We will get you out of here right now, you will have opportunities, connections - anything, all 3033 pleasures.
Just agree!
Let's make a mark on your finger now - and you're ours? "
- Do they make marks on the finger?
- Well, first on your finger, then you have to make a tattoo.
- And what does it give?
- A certain roof that you have to work on, of course.
- To
ac r
y to earn?
- For example, you are on the territory of the camp.
A scuffle begins.
If you understand that representatives of your group are being beaten or they are in trouble, you should harness for them as if it is your own problem.
If you don’t harness it, then you’ll pay for it later.
- Did you refuse offers?
- There, among others, was a man who was already awaiting his release.
Local, Filipino.
He says: "Yura, in no case, under any circumstances, do not join any of the groups."
- Why did he say that?
- I think he saw in me a non-belonging, so to speak, to this world.
And I realized, apparently, that such a person is better off staying away.
- How did the inmates perceive you?
- They perceived me more, probably, as some kind of spy almost on a mission or something like that.
They saw that I had a good education.
And mostly local terrorists, of whom there were many, tried to make friends with me.
- What did they want?
- All of them just saluted me and, as it were, expressed their recognition to Kalashnikov.
- And what language did you speak at all?
- In English.
Well, I learned a little bit of the Filipino language, more precisely, Tagalog.
- Are there any phrases that immediately determine that you are seasoned?
- For example, they ask you for something.
If you answer in English, no one will believe that you are not ready to share it or that you don’t have it.
You say to him in Tagalog: "Uala" - and he understands that you are in the subject ...
- "Uala" is "Fuck you"?
- Something like that.
- And there were murders?
- Yes, there were murders, I've seen that too.
For example, a person from one group enters the territory of another group.
Although, it would seem, here it is - a common territory, all there are prisoners, all in the same conditions.
They just take him into circulation, kill him in the toilet.
After that, response actions begin.
Showdowns last for weeks.
- How widespread is violence among prisoners?
- If someone, somewhere, somehow framed the camera, a council of the prisoners themselves gathers.
And punishment is imposed in the form of blows with a stick on the inner side of the thigh so that no traces remain.
It is very painful.
Fortunately, I did not experience anything like this, because I observed the internal orders.
And up to 30 blows people took with this stick, harder than a whip.
- And what order could be broken?
- For example, if they find a phone in a cell, which is a terrible contraband.
Then the entire cell is closed for at least a day, or they can close it for a week.
That is, all 90 people are locked up in one cell 24 hours a day.
Everyone suffered due to the fact that one person overlooked, overlooked, did not hide or did something contrary to the general order.
Stole it from someone.
If they find out about this, even if you are not in some kind of group, they will still be punished very harshly.
- Did you work there somewhere?
- We came up with a source of income with the guys.
We tried to provide ourselves somehow.
They threw off little by little, who had what, bought food from the local cooperative.
And at home there they organized a small stall.
- Did you speculate?
- Well, you can say so.
But enough for lunch.
And no other job is offered at all.
Work is, in fact, a very great privilege.
- If a person does get a job, how much is he paid?
- The job is usually free - delivering food.
You just have more time off camera.
RT
- What are the prisoners doing? Have you, for example, had books in Russian?
- Fortunately, I managed to get books.
They sent a lot of things.
At some point, I had a whole library assembled.
In addition, there was a cooperative shop inside the SIZO where you could buy bread.
And the bread was sold in plastic bags, which, if cut and unfold on the sides, can be tied to the grate at one end and pulled out.
You get a long thread up to six meters from one bag.
And from these threads I knitted string bags.
And in addition to such needlework, I figured out how to feed myself, cook something.
- What do they usually feed?
- The ration is very poor there.
Just rice and some kind of sauce.
And three times a day.
That is, there is no such thing as in Russia, as far as I understand, where you have both bread and tea.
Nobody cares about it there.
- What food did you miss the most?
- Oddly enough, for the simplest - pancakes, for example, homemade.
I missed my grandmother's, my mother's food.
I missed homemade food very much.
- Were you poisoned?
- Yes.
Imagine you have to wash your plate.
One bathroom for 90 people.
One toilet, one hole in the wall, from which water simply drips.
The first time I wake up, and the prisoners are all sitting, having breakfast.
In such a huge party, from a huge vat they scoop into their plates and eat.
They: "Will you?"
I will".
“Oh, our man!
If I had refused, you and I, most likely, would not have built any relationship.
And you accepted, and we understand that here you do not feel like a star or very different from us. "
- And what about the drugs?
- Someone had something.
In general, in the pre-trial detention center, in which I was kept for the first year, there is one doctor for 3800 people.
And there you, in fact, belong to yourself.
If health, immunity allows you to withstand all this, then you will survive.
- How are things going with sanitary conditions?
- There was a common drain of water from all the barracks into such a stinking river, where huge rats lived.
Sometimes, for example, you wake up in the middle of the night from the fact that someone bites you or someone crawls over you.
There are also huge cockroaches that not only crawl, but also fly.
This is just quite tough.
When you see how this creature ... Okay, he is huge, creeping there somewhere.
And then suddenly flies to you while you sleep.
It's really scary.
- Is there male prostitution in a Philippine prison, the so-called absent?
- In this sense, they have everything so perverted ... For example, you can easily meet there strong elderly homosexuals everywhere.
This is really a very unusual sight.
There were people who had sex reassignment surgery.
Although at the trial it did not help.
There was a guy with fake breasts.
Naturally, it all looked pretty extreme.
- Did you fight in prison?
- I had to fight, yes.
We did not share the phone with the person.
Tried several times to organize the phone inside the cell.
The first time the guards took the money, nothing happened.
The second time I didn't have enough money, I found someone to chip in.
They gave me the phone.
I didn't tell this guy straight away, because I knew that he would immediately start using it openly and they would catch us.
But he learned about it through the guards.
He had the opportunity to walk past the cameras.
And he comes up and says, “I heard you already have a phone.
You didn't tell me. "
I do not have time to do anything, and he hits me in the face right through the bars.
Very unpleasant.
It is unpleasant psychologically.
I come up, pretend to take it calmly, and hit him back in the same way right through the bars in the face.
He has blood.
He twitches as if he's about to pounce on me.
And between us there is a lattice, and he cannot do anything.
But the next morning, the bars open.
Everything, we have access to each other.
I am already preparing for the continuation now.
He comes and says: "I was wrong, sorry, I didn't think."
They shook hands, he left.
- How much does it cost to buy a phone?
- Smartphone - the price reached 120 thousand rubles.
- One?
- One smartphone.
An ordinary telephone, maybe 30-40 thousand rubles.
But I am already transferring this with our money, and this was at the time of exacerbations, when no one had any phones there.
- How many phones have you changed during this time?
- Probably about six or seven.
- Who sent you money?
- Friends.
On a birthday, for example, once this happened.
“Three years later you were completely acquitted. With what wording?
- Yes, I got a complete acquittal.
With the wording that mistakes were made in the process of my detention, because of which it is impossible to say with certainty whether I brought something or it was planted on me.
- People who find themselves in such a situation are called "blind mules." What does this mean?
- When a person is planted with drugs, but he does not know about it and transports them across the border - this is what is called a "blind mule."
Today we know of such cases in Southeast Asia, probably about 20 - these are the people who became "blind mules".
And today we are trying in every possible way to help them.
- What did you do first when you returned?
- I cried with happiness.
I met with relatives, friends and relatives.
The next morning I woke up and did not remember how and where I ended up.
- After returning, you turned to social activities, you even have an organization. Tell about her.
- We have created a whole movement called "The Way Home".
Because we understand how big a problem it is when people, by their gullibility, find themselves in such difficult situations.
We began to trumpet all channels and directly noticed how people began to write - those who could potentially find themselves in such a situation.
In addition, relatives and friends of those who are already in such a situation and who need help began to unite.
- A lot of people are turning?
- Two or three people consistently apply to us a month.
- Did you manage to help someone, prevent the tragedy?
- It was really possible to prevent the tragedy.
For example, people wrote: "Thank God I found out about your story and turned down a dubious job offer abroad."
We also, for example, competently write some appeals for people.
We help them just to feel that there is someone who cares.