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“Bad Men”. Isolation Out of Jail

Former prisoner Vahe Sargsyan, 48, has been working as a driver in a taxi service for already three years and is sure that he could finally find his place in life.

Vahe’s present state can be considered promising, as he has spent a forth of his life in prison for the first time being sentenced for disorderly conduct and car robbery and for the second time for murder.

“Freedom is the dearest thing,” says Vahe. “But in the case one has been in prison for many years, he couldn’t later find his place among the society. When I was just out of jail, I used to say jail was better, than freedom. The police have come after me for several times, and I have told them what you want me to write for you to try and take me to jail. The outside world was too strange to me. Wherever I went, I couldn’t find a job, and the district policemen told me to work, otherwise they would have taken me to jail.”

For the first time Vahe was imprisoned in 1983 at the age of 24. After bearing a third of his sentence he was released and an interminable route to conquer his freedom started for Vahe.

In 1996 he was sentenced for the second time to already 9 years in prison for murder. Vahe says he has mingled in somebody’s quarrel and wounded one of them with a knife. He died the next day.

“In 2005 getting out of jail I felt coolness round me,” he tells. “The district police frequently bothered me. As soon as a criminal event happened, I was examined no matter I had any relation to the event or not.”

Vahe’s present status is an exception, as the former prisoners’ reintegration in a society, where one being once sentenced deserves the label of “criminal” for life, is a very difficult process in Armenia.

“In this respect the first one to be blamed is the society, its intolerant treatment resulting in the prisoners’ negative state of mind and aggression in criminal enforcement agencies,” says legal psychologist Arshak Gasparyan.

According to him the adaptation process of the released prisoner lasts 1-3 years; the most difficult period is the first 3-6 months. The psychologist says if during that period the released prisoners are not accepted for employment, don’t have a permanent place of habitation, there are all the premises to again commit crimes.

The statistical data show these premises more than exist for the former prisoners of Armenia.

In 2006 there were 26, in 2007 – 34, and in 2008 – 27 former prisoners registered at the “State Employment Service” agency of Armenia dealing with the issues of the former prisoners’ employment.

During three years the agency succeeded in getting jobs only for ten of the registered prisoners (guard, waitress and worker), another two have been involved in temporary public works. There are no statistical data or investigations on the rest of the former prisoners registered in the agency.

The following mechanisms are used while working with people back from the prisons: the prisoners write an application to the head of the criminal enforcement agency mentioning about their desire to work after being released. This application and the notice of the head of criminal enforcement agency containing data on the prisoner’s age, address, previous occupation, are sent to the Employment Center.

“Many of the released don’t possess any kind of identification document; that’s why they can’t be registered in the Center. Often the address in the notice received from the criminal enforcement agency doesn’t correspond with reality, and we can’t communicate with the released prisoners,” says Tsoghik Bezhanyan, head of Consultation and Information Department of the “State Employment Service” agency.

Former prisoners have the same legal status like any other member of the society in Armenia, and there is no any discrimination from the judicial point of view. But this is a vulnerable and a risk group as has no sufficient potential and facilities to independently gain a foothold under today’s competition terms.

Bezhanyan assures that the employers reject to accept former prisoners for employment. “It is very difficult to break previous stereotypes existing in people’s minds and “force” them to afford one more chance to them (former prisoners),” he says.

Vahe considers that the way a former prisoner will be treated by the society, depends mostly on his behavior. “People start to avoid me as soon as they know I’ve been in prison,” he says. “Since 2005 I have been working in one and the same taxi-service. If I did something wrong, people would by all means remind of my imprisonment and tell me to go away.”

Years’ isolation may cause not only to loss of freedom and job, but also family and friends.

“Most of the families are collapsed. My parents cared for my family, didn’t let it fall. 9 years is not a little period. I know many families, where after the husband’s imprisonment, the wife divorced. But my family, God bless, has always been beside me. Today both my son and my daughter are at the age of marriage. I live for them,” says Vahe.

International experience shows that integration process of former prisoners is not only the government responsibility. In some countries it is the absolute mission of the private, public sector. There are also different social, psychological, rehabilitation centers serving those risk groups.

In Armenia too there are non-governmental organizations conducting short-term projects, but it is not a complete process, and the number of money-lenders as a rule is not big.

The article was prepared within the framework of the seminar “Raising the Role of the Media in Covering Justice and Law Enforcement System”, organized by “Journalists for the Future” NGO (www.jnews.am).

Source: www.jnews.am