Prisoners Prove Life Behind the Pearls

One of them is 30-year-old Hope. She's been wearing an orange vest for seven years. By the end of his sentence, 11 more years remain.

Prison life is difficult, despite good conditions and treatment, she says, adding that from morning to evening, life is organised, including daily work and activities in this institution.

Hard to use is life within walls. Someone who hasn't. Every morning you wake up with your mind to people of freedom and their goods. I'm very sorry, but a man who's not normal cannot help but repent of such a mistake”.

I work in the morning, I read from noon till evening, I write, I do different jobs, I do sports activities. This is my update within” walls, says Hope.

In one of the pavilions of this institution, which 16 years and 5 months repenting of the work done, there is also the river that will last another eight years in suffering punishment.

During these years of suffering punishment, the river has only managed to pass through the prison door once to spend a weekend with its family.

I wake up in the morning, go to work, work in the oven. I go back to the pavilion, we have coffee with our friends, we watch TV, we go to sports events, we go for a walk. Conditions are good, food, health care is good. Yet, it is very difficult to stay in this environment for years. On the day I came here, I regretted the work done”, the River relates.

In one of the sites, minors who have been convicted of various acts, including theft, murder, and other crimes, also suffer punishment.

Agon is 18. The 16th birthday was marked at this centre, from which it is expected to emerge after two years. Agon, who has a passion for painting, shows how an uncontrolled moment has given him a whole different life.

He has interrupted the 10th grade, general high school in his city, to continue the learning process in the centre.

I've changed course, I'm in information technology. This is where the professors hold me. It's good, but it's probably better. After the end of the sentence, I would like to study economic faculty”, Agon says.

His associate, Egzon, has seven months to the end of his sentence.

But unlike the rest of the residents of this center, with whom we talked, he says that he has not repented.

I have not regretted my work, but I never repeat this mistake. I don't go to school here, but I draw, in my spare time I work, mower, paint and whatever it takes. Conditions are good”, Egzon says

The director of the Boarding Centre in Lipjan, Heset Locku, for Radio Free Europe, says conditions have been created at this centre for prisoners to have access to various activities.

There are activities, depending on groups and categories. Women's activities, in addition to sporting activities, free activities, also have professional training in various fields. Thanks to women's training and training in tailoring and hairmaker, and all these women who have had interest have received certificates”, says Locke.

Despite good conditions, prisoners say, the day to turn their backs on this center is eagerly expected.