Anna Kargopoltseva

Born in Perm. Head of the Interregional public organization of social prevention of offenses «Choice.» Deputy Chairman of the Perm Krai Public Observation Commission for the implementation of public control over the observance of human rights in the detention facilities.

Quotes

• Freedom is a choice made with the awareness of full responsibility for its consequences.
• It is great when someone from my wards calls from Khabarovsk and says: my third son was born. It is unlikely that something can inspire me more.
• I dream of a new car. My wheels are already falling off, and I drove 400 kilometers only today.
• I am upset by the attitude of society to the condemned. It is tough to explain that these people cannot be wiped off.

My story

I am from Perm. My grandmother was the editor-in-chief of the «Dzerzhinets» newspaper, my mother had two high linguistic educations.

Grandmother's parents were political prisoners who were exiled to Perm. From childhood, I heard about secret agents, my grandmother did not even allow me to get married for the first time, because my husband came to wed in a jacket and tie, and she said that this was a very suspicious man. In the family, the history of repression was not hushed up, we told about people, rather than about the horror of their situation. Therefore, I became interested in people, and not the conditions themselves.

In 1999, I came to the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Perm region and asked for permission to visit women who are serving sentences in the remand prison. The head of the educational work department replied: not profitable. A whole year of negotiations, and as a result, they gave me access to the colony, and it was not a Perm demand prison and not women, but the Valai settlement 400 kilometers from Perm and the men's special regime colony. We went in December, we were told: you will pass through several cities: Solikamsk, Cherdyn. We still saw Solikamsk, drove further all night, nothing was visible. We passed Cherdyn without noticing it, and then Nyrob and farther up to Valai we drove for three hours 43 kilometers on a complete lack of road. We arrived at the colony — and there the offenders shoveled away the snow. The deputy head of educational work asks: why did you come? He listened to me and then said: go away, not today. That was my first inglorious departure to correctional institutions.

If everything worked out right away without overcoming difficulties, then I would see that many people are engaged in such work, and would not plunge in the rehabilitation of prisoners headlong.

From the second time, the work has already started: I arrived there, on Valai, signed an agreement between my organization and Federal Prison Service. I was allowed to attend correctional facilities and prepare prisoners for release, participate in their educational work. And a miracle happened on Valai. My husband's friend had disappeared long before, no one could find him, and here I meet him here in the library. A group of offenders was formed in the library, and we began work.

It is impossible to work with offenders according to a clear and definite program. Each of them is a peculiar personality. There are standard topics, for example, the prevention of alcoholism and drug addiction. But most of the program we make each time for a certain small group from 5 to 50 people. We talk about everything: they have the right to ask any question. If I do not know how to answer, I will go home and bring back the answer next time.

Most of the offenders are concerned about the issue of work, and there is a very noticeable difference between male and female colonies. Men have a high level of self-confidence, while women worry, ask for advice and seek help. From my experience, I will say: self-confidence often ends badly.

Today we work with all institutions of the region. I can't say that I'm used to these people, it is difficult. But the most important thing I have achieved is that some offenders trust me. Trust shapes up by time. And without trust, you can't give any advice.

I used to think that it was enough to advise a person before being released, but now I understand how much we must to do so that the person will never return to the correctional facility. Starting from the colony: in addition to standard prophylaxis, we give a lot of informational material. We provide lectures: I am continually looking for exciting lecturers. For example, now the drug prevention reports are held by the weightlifting world champion, who consumed illicit substances when he was young. All people need a vivid illustration that concerns them personally, and those offenders are no exception.

In my project, five people are engaged in the social escort of the released. They meet a person from the colony, spend in the medical unit for the first medical examination, find accommodation and temporary employment. If necessary, they restore documents. Now, thanks to the presidential grant, we are opening two centers for those releasing: one is still empty, and the second is a three-room apartment for women for free use in the Chusovsky district. The after-release situation with them is usually more critical: if the wives of prisoners often wait for their husbands for one jail term, or two, then the husbands almost always divorce from their spouses when those go to prison. Therefore, when a woman is released, she often has nowhere to go.

We deal with former offenders; we work on the principle of equal consultants. The first to come up with such a scheme were AIDS centers: a person living with HIV helped people who had just revealed their status. A person who is free and has gone through all the stages can help those who have been just released. Such people feel themselves in demand, and we employ them. I understand that those who are not connected with this topic will not themselves try to reach out to the problems of the offenders; therefore I involve everyone myself.

Our wards — about 300 of them who have been released — rarely commit repeated crimes: when a person is prepared both from an educational and social point of view, he has no reason to break the law again. A tiny percentage of people are prone to committing crimes, the main problem of criminality is a social one. Now we are actively working on the women's center, gradually make arrangements with all clinics, doctors, and officials.

In 2018, our organization became interregional, we have opened a representative office in Novosibirsk and Nizhnyj Novgorod. It makes sense to spread our experience further: offenders will not perish from the earth, and you need to work with them responsibly, openly and effectively.