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Life after lock up — Moscow 8 years later
Now I’m 31, but I feel like I’m 24. I have my whole life ahead of me
One sinister evening in summer of 2011, people in camouflage and masks burst into Arthur’s house while he was laying and watching TV with his pregnant girlfriend. With weapons drawn officers commanded them to lay on the ground with their hands up as they began to raid the apartment. Police found drugs, but apparently not enough since they decided to plant more for good measure. Law enforcement opened a criminal case on Arthur and later that evening he was taken to Serpukhov Central Jail. Little did he know he wouldn’t be freed again until nearly 8 years later. He spent his time incarcerated in one of the system’s most strict regimes. You can read Arthur’s monologue below about how, in his opinion, our everyday life has changed in the last decade. He discusses youth, prettier Moscow, modern technology, new hip-hop and more
About Moscow
The first thing that catches your eye when you leave the prison is the level of total control. Surveillance is felt everywhere through cameras, police, frames, and detectors. Everything and everyone is being watched. When I went to jail the president was Dmitry Medvedev and iPhone 3 was just released. And now Steve Jobs is…
