Emigration
Part two, here we go. Artyom shares his experiences and observations about daily life in Danish prisons: how easy it is to buy drugs there, what happens to you if they are found, the role of Danish gangs, and more on racism in the prison system. Read the continuation of Artyom’s story about life in “cozy” and “safe” Denmark.
Artyom, tattoo artist
— The story with the three prisons is more or less clear. The next questions are more general. What are people usually serving time for in Danish prisons?
— It varies. I saw a Pole who punched someone’s lights out. I saw Belarusians—Belarusians mostly steal. But if it’s Black people or Arabs—that’s mostly the drug business.
In general, 90% of those in prison are there for drugs. Eastern Europeans are there for theft, mostly shoplifting.
— What are the sentences like for the same crime in Belarus vs. Denmark? How much do they differ?
— In Belarus, you know how the system works; everyone hears about it. In Denmark… if we’re talking drugs, they can slap you with twenty years. It all depends on how much they find. If you’re caught with a kilogram, you might get 3 months suspended. But if it’s a ton of cocaine—you’re going away for 20 years.
If you’re in a gang—they add a year to the sentence. If you represent something else—another year. But if you’re just an ordinary guy caught with a joint, even if you sold it—that joint, not a ton of coke—they’ll give you 3 months or just write a fine.
If you get caught with a joint in Denmark—even in court or parliament—nothing will happen to you. They’ll wag a finger, they might not even take the joint, you know? It’s normal there. And if you’re a Danish citizen, you likely won’t even sit in prison unless you did something truly serious. But if you’re an immigrant or non-citizen—they immediately hand you a term and deportation. The attitude toward immigrants is terrible.
If we’re talking personal harm rather than drugs, that’s different. For example, if you robbed a store—that’s one thing. If you robbed a specific person—that’s a different term because you caused personal harm. These are standard European rights.
But for immigrants, they try to do this: convict you, put you in prison, then put you on a plane and send you back to your country so they don’t have to spend money on you.
— Tell us about the daily life in Danish prisons.
— In Denmark, nothing happens in the prisons. Everyone sits in their own cell; everyone has single cells. In Belarus, there are barracks, and cells have 20 or 40 people. A huge room with bunk beds. Life in Belarusian prisons is like this: you go to work in a separate factory-barrack, you go to the canteen-barrack, you talk to someone, smoke—and the day is over. In Denmark, you have one hour a day for a walk and the chance to “visit” others. The rest of the time you sit in your cell.
By European standards, everything is strictly observed. Walks, the commissary, food. You have everything in your cell, even a TV with 30 channels—National Geographic and so on. Но you have to pay for them. If you don’t pay, they come and take the antenna. But TV is TV—the same movies, shows, and programs; only the news is different. You can take DVDs from the library, but everything is in English or Danish, which I didn’t know at the time.
— “Visiting”? What do you mean by that?
— In Denmark, you live alone, but every day you can go visit someone in their cell—to play checkers or just chat. Or someone can come to you, regardless of gender, for a limited time. Guys, girls—everyone is in the same prison, and that’s considered normal. It’s a liberal society, no joke. There’s plenty of intrigue, too; they move girls from floor to floor so they don’t start “affairs.”
It’s good when there’s someone to visit, but I met very few Russian speakers. Sometimes they are there, but on other floors. In big prisons, the system is such that you can’t just go from your floor to another floor to see someone. We only got to see each other and talk during the daily walk. I couldn’t just walk over to their floor.
But they knew I could put my foot down—because of my hunger strikes, you know? There was even a case where they moved Russian speakers to my floor at my request. They always made concessions. Because in a Danish prison, there’s no “kipish” (riot), no “shukher” (alarms)—everyone walks calmly, the rations are delivered, and you spend 7 days a week in your cell.
— What else is available to you there that isn’t in Belarus?
— Yeah, you can buy hashish there without any problems. Even in that madhouse prison, I bought it easily. A Lithuanian guy, whom they separated me from because we talked too much Russian, was really running the show. He was in for drugs too—like I was in Belarus, and he was in Denmark—only I just smoked, and he smoked *and* ran a drug business. One day he comes up to me and goes: “What, you want to get high? If it was available, would you smoke?” I say: “Pff, no question.” Well, that was it. Later he came by and brought me some hash. I said: “This is great hash.” And he says: “Listen, you can buy it. My buddy behind the wall sells it, you can get it through me.” That’s how things are in Denmark.
— Where does the money come from? Or do you trade hash for things?
— In Belarus, if you need something, you buy it at the “lavka” (shop)—cigarettes and so on. In Denmark, they give you cash in hand, 200 kroner in cash, and if you work, you can have 400 or more. You always have cash. I don’t remember exactly… but for about 100, I could easily get a gram of hash a week. I still had enough to buy a pack of cigarettes and some snacks at the shop. They fed us well, so I didn’t have to spend much on food. That was in the first prison.
In the second one, same story; there’s always someone selling something in Danish prisons. The first time I went for a walk, some Black guys came up immediately: “Who are you? Where from?” Basically, they cracked who I was. Then they told me if I needed anything to smoke, there’s a guy to contact. They told me the price.
I was in that prison for 2-3 months. Then I had another situation with the cops, went on a hunger strike, and as I told you, they immobilized me and moved me to the third prison on the island. But you were asking about stuff?
— Yes, what items are available to you in a Danish prison that are banned in Belarus?
— Items… You can buy porn without any issues. Go to the shop and buy a porn magazine or porn DVDs. The society is so liberal that it’s no problem. Buy porn DVDs, buy hashish—and that’s it, sit there and enjoy. It’s just madness. You sit in your cell for a week, no communication with anyone, only walks, porn, and hash.
Another thing unlike Belarusian prisons—as I said, women are in prison with men. If I want to sit with a lady and drink coffee, I can just go to the cop and say: “I’m going to visit her” or invite her to my place. It’s not an issue. Except for the disdain for immigrants, the society is completely liberal.
Packages from the outside are banned in Denmark. Nothing from freedom. Everything you need, you buy at the shop. And if something isn’t in stock, the shopkeeper comes and you can order whatever you want—I’ll repeat: *whatever* you want. You want Burger King burgers—you get Burger King burgers. You want Balenciaga slippers—they’ll bring you Balenciaga slippers. That’s how well the system is built.
— You mentioned a chance to earn money; tell us about the work—is it mandatory?
— They can give you a job in Danish prisons, but no one will force you to work. You can work voluntarily and earn, say, 500 kroner a week or more. Work is when they give you a screwdriver in your cell and some plastic parts that need to be screwed together. You assemble boxes of this shit every day—that’s the whole job. If you just sit down and do it automatically, you can finish everything in 2-3 hours.
With those kroner, you can buy cigarettes, snus, and snacks. If you don’t want to work, you just say: “I don’t want to work,” and then they pay you 200 kroner a week for free—just so you can buy cigarettes, goodies, or hash.
— How do prison guards behave in Denmark? How “untouchable” do they feel compared to Belarusian ones?
— If you don’t create problems or a “kipish,” everyone smiles at you and is always polite. There are many female guards; they show empathy and listen to you. If you need something, they’ll listen and, if possible, help. Но as soon as you start making trouble, even if you’re right, they immediately immobilize you and move you to a stricter prison.
But there’s one thing: they treat immigrants with hatred. They have their own society. Immigrants are slaves to them, and all of Eastern Europe is the enemy. It’s not just individuals; it’s a general public opinion. To them, there’s no difference between a Pole, Lithuanian, Romanian, Russian, or Ukrainian. They don’t differentiate. It’s their mentality, their ideology.
The treatment of immigrants vs. Danes is so different that they have prisons with different conditions. In immigrant prisons, it’s mostly Black people, Arabs, and newcomers. I only met a few Russian speakers there. Danes have a ton of privileges, but if you’re an immigrant—they throw you in a single cell, one hour for a walk, and feed you like a dog. Though, to be fair, the food is okay. But generally, they don’t give a fuck about you as a person. Sure, they smile, but if you start demanding your rights—they move you out. No questions, no paperwork. One warden calls another: “I’ve got an idiot here, I’m transferring him to you”—and that’s it.
— Does Denmark have the same methods of pressure as Belarus: solitary confinement (SHIZO), deprivation of letters/books, social isolation, “shmons” (raids), or planting people with mental disorders or informants in your cell?
— If you behave badly in a colony in Belarus, they put you in an isolator. An isolator is a separate cell where you can’t sleep during the day. You can’t lie down either, only sit at a small table.
In Denmark, there are no “isolators” at all. There are no cells that can change your conditions of detention. The only thing they can do is ban you from visiting others.
They have a different system—fines. Smoke in your cell—50 kroner fine. They find hash on you—100 kroner fine. Imagine. In Belarus, if they find hash on you in prison, that’s it—plus 8 years, they’ll spin it under article 328, add a bunch of other charges, and eventually throw on another 3 years so you never get out.
In Denmark—a 100 kroner fine. That’s it. You sit in prison there and you can hear the whole prison coughing, and it reeks of hash.
— Tell us about discrimination. Belarusian prisons are homophobic—how is homophobia in Denmark? Are there separate “castes” like in Belarus?
— To give you an idea, unlike Belarus, there are no barriers at all between gay people and, roughly speaking, “men.” In prison, that whole Russian prison “ideology” doesn’t exist. Everyone does what they want, drugs are everywhere. No one gives a damn who is gay and who is straight.
Cops, guards—some of them are gay too. Openly gay. In comparison, Belarus and Russia live by their “convict codes” (ponyatiya), but there’s nothing like that in Denmark.
— Are there people with a socially “low” status?
— No. There’s nothing like that. There are many men sitting there for prostitution, you know? I mean, there are really a lot of gay people. There are no “codes,” none of that shit. There are idiots—where aren’t there? People avoid them. Snitches are also shunned, but there’s no such thing as “lowering” (humiliating) someone—not at all.
It’s hard even to explain our system to them. They asked me to tell them. When I was in the last prison, they were curious. Even though we spoke English, I enjoyed figuring it out. To them, it was all gibberish.
They asked me about our prisons. I explained how everything is structured. They said: “No way, it can’t be.” I said: “Well, that’s how it is.” Nothing you can do. They didn’t believe it. I mean, they did, but they just don’t have that level of fucked-up shit. I explain it to them, and they hold their heads: “No fucking way!” And they ask: “What is the point of all this?” And I realize they live for money. You know, Mafia? It’s a mafia. They do their business—they earn. But us? No one does anything and certainly no one earns. They just sit. Beat your wife—go to jail. Stole something—go to jail. Bought weed—go to jail. Spice, dead drops—everything, you’re caught. It’s idiocy, you know?
— If your rights are violated, either as a person or a prisoner, can you stand up for them?
Cops are one thing. But then there are prosecutors who just don’t like you. Maybe he hates Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians—to Danes, it’s all the same. Their borders are blurred. Poles are their enemies too. You can run into that kind of attitude.
It manifests in the fact that no one will listen to you; you’re guilty and that’s it. But otherwise—it’s insane. They overfeed you so much that you don’t want to do anything. Like I told you: you eat, sleep, jerk off, smoke hash, go for a walk—that’s it. They do everything so you don’t start any trouble.
— In your opinion, where does time pass faster: in Belarusian realities or Danish ones?
— You know… if you had served time, you’d understand. When you enter any prison, time stretches like fucking rubber. You know how to compare it? Like rubber being pulled apart. But as soon as you’re released—it’s over, in a flash, and all that time just flew by. It’s really crazy, I’ve felt it many times.
I’m telling you, those [Belarusian] situations just don’t exist there. They simply don’t. There was that one situation where the cop told me to speak Danish. Remember? By my nature, I dislike them. And I was on edge because of all this shit, because I’m sitting there for I don’t know what. So I slugged him, you know? And not for nothing. I could have been crushed for that, but the cops didn’t do it.
In Belarus, there’s a “dvizh” (hustle/activity) in prisons. It’s built differently; even in prison, there’s some movement, some back-and-forth, something is happening. People aren’t isolated. I could communicate with people. But there—you’re just sitting there, and it’s fucked. Until you know English or Danish, you just think about meeting that Pole on a walk just so you can talk a bit. It really blows your mind.
— And a final question. Did you meet many political prisoners in Denmark? If so, what is the attitude toward them from other prisoners and the administration?
— They exist. While I was there, they had a big trial going on. They were trying an Arab for terrorism, though the evidence was just a photo with a Kalashnikov. He’s just standing with it in the photo. And that’s it—that’s enough to declare him a terrorist. So much for Danish justice. If someone is “political,” it’s usually tied to religion; I didn’t meet anyone like the ones in Belarus.