Wolf Hole Correctional Facility - How Drug Convicts Live

A high fence with a thorn, a room for two dozen people, one bedside table for two, a six-hour working day. The Press visited correctional colony no. 22 near Ivatsevichi, where those who were sentenced for the first time on drug charges are serving their sentences.

I.K. No. 22, which is popularly called “Wolf Holes” (after the name of the village burned down during the war), is a special colony. Here are collected convicts under Art. 328 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (“Illicit drug trafficking”). When in 2014 the president announced the need to toughen the punishment for drug offenses and create a separate colony for such convicts with "unbearable conditions of detention", IK No. 22 became one of them.

“Not our children should sit here, but drug lords”

The road to the colony lies through the forest. The nearest settlement - Domanovo station - 9 km. We are approaching. Relatives of the convicts are crowding near the entrance. All with bags and suitcases. When we pass by, one of the women, seeing cameras and video cameras, shouts after us: “Help save our children! It's not they who should be sitting here, but the drug lords.” It's hard to hear that.

We hand over the phones, we pass through the frame-metal detector, then there is a sharp sound of an electric lock. On the territory of the colony we fall under the loud barking of dogs. Around small buildings, paved paths, flower beds. There are video cameras around the perimeter of the colony.

Currently, about a thousand convicted men are serving their sentences in IK No. 22. The average age is 20–30 years. The average term is about 10 years.

Rookies go into quarantine

All newly arrived convicts are first sent to quarantine. According to Andrey Kvashevich, the head of IK No. 22, they spend two weeks here - getting used to the routine and adapting to a new life. After quarantine, they are divided into groups.

One of the workers of the colony said that while the convicts are in quarantine, psychologists identify those who were involved in one criminal case: those who got caught on drugs and “surrendered” another should not be held together.

In quarantine there is an internal fenced patio. We go there. Above the head is a metal mesh. On the site - a system of 12 "newcomers". All young, dressed in the same dark blue uniform. It's hard to look at the guys: some of them are still quite children - they are only 18 years old.

21-year-old Dmitry, originally from Grodno, was sentenced to 10 years.
- I don't know how it happened. I was convicted for 10 grams of the drug, which was found in a car that I did not even drive. It's not mine, and the car is not mine,” he says.

Bury the drugs

The convicts - 8 detachments, each with about 120 people - live in a two-story hostel. In the dormitory, there are posters on the walls: “Bury drugs or they will bury you”, “Say no to drugs”, “Drug-free future”, etc. At the entrance to each room there is a daily routine and a list of those who live in it. There are rooms designed for 13 people, there are rooms for 26. According to the rules, it was not possible to find out how many convicts should be in a room - the employees of the institution give different numbers.

The room has bunk beds. Nearby is a stool and a nightstand designed for two. All furniture is signed: surname, date of birth, article, beginning and end of a person's sentence.

– When convicts for drug offenses are gathered in one colony, it is easier for us to work with them. And it's easier to treat. In the colony, 10% of convicts are treated for drug addiction, - explains the head of correctional colony No. 22.

The Day of the Convicts follows a strict schedule. Rise at 6.00, hang-up - at 22.00. Three meals a day. The convicts prepare themselves. There are several menu complexes: the usual one, for those who sit in the schizo, a diet complex, etc. The food is simple: barley porridge, cabbage soup, pasta, fish. They give us a taste of potato babka with minced meat. To be honest, I didn't like it.

Work is a must, study is optional

All convicts are required to work: in woodworking, in the sewing industry, and in the dismantling of metal and cables. The entrance and exit to the industrial zone is through a metal detector so that the convicts cannot bring sharp objects into the hostel.

Work in two shifts of six hours, with one day off on Sunday. Colony employees say that the furniture they produce is in demand and is even exported. Convicts have different salaries. Who works at the sawmill earns more than others - 100-200 rubles. per month. Who is engaged in dismantling metal, receives 10-15 rubles. per month. Convicts spend 10% of their salary in a store located on the territory of the colony.

The store can be visited three times a month. Part of the money goes to reimburse government spending, pay claims, if any. The remaining amount (from higher salaries) accumulates in the account of the convict. He will receive this money when he is released.

Those who wish can receive education remotely. For example, to graduate from a professional lyceum in the specialties of a carpenter-machine operator, a seamstress-tailor, a gas-electric welder. Or get a higher education at Minsk Innovative University. Now there are 20 university students in the colony.
A church was built on the territory of IK No. 22. A priest comes here every week. Here, convicts can marry their girlfriends. Up to ten couples sign in the colony per month. In IK there is even a room for the wedding night.

“Lack of relatives and freedom”

In the eyes of the majority of convicts - longing. 23-year-old Maksim from Minsk served just over a year. He was given 14 years. He ended up in IK No. 22 together with his brother, who was also sentenced to 14 years. Maxim considers the punishment too severe.

“I have a neoplasm in my chest. Immediately after that, the wife of my 30-year-old brother was bitten by an encephalitis tick. We needed money for medicines. My brother and I began to bookmark spices. A few months later we were detained,” Maxim says. “Family is the only thing we have left. All friends have disappeared. There is a lack of loved ones here, and there is still not enough freedom. I would like to return home as soon as possible. Then we had to sacrifice ourselves to save the life of another. But if it was possible to turn back time, my brother and I would try to find another way out of that situation. Probably sell the apartment.

There are many in the colony who are aware of their actions. How many of those who believe that sentences for drug crimes are too long. Colony workers have a different opinion:

- If you talked to the victims of crimes, you would think differently. It's a pity for those convicted not because they received long sentences, but because they didn't turn on their brains on time.

We leave Wolf Holes with a heavy heart. It's hard to realize that all these guys will spend here not a month or a year, but many, many years.

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