Prison

Ok I am typing this at high speed, so please do forgive the typos, the power has gone down and I only have an hours worth of battery, which in computer terms could mean anything between 5 minutes to 30 minutes. So I am going to plough through this without proof reading.

Libby picked me up at 11.30 and we headed out to the prison which is in a town called tipatito (i think) which is actually a good drive out of Mangua. We got to the prison and I had my photo taken in a tin hut outside so I could claim my ID. 40 Cordabas, best part of £1.25.

In we went to the security centre. The main hall for being cleared to enter the prison is nothing more than a cattle shed, if they call it any different then they are certainly lying, that is unless they call it a pig shed which being a little worse, could well be closer to the truth. There were so many people there, women dressed up to the nines, not sure of their motivation, either they wanted to impress their boyfirend / husband or they are going to cause themselves no end of problems. Children running around and the odd scuffle. People here have no idea of order. It's just a stampede, one woman went flying on the floor when they opened the gates for a body search, she was crying her eyes out and people just walked over her. I don't get this. Even when we were queing to be seen, people are right on top of you, there is no such thing as personal space in this country, I guess its drummed into them through the experience of using public transport.

Libby flew through but i had problems. It took 1 hour and 20 minutes, 9 different people to handle my files and identification, then a gorup of 5 sitting around a table discussing my documents before I was even considered for entry to the prison. It was shocing as in reality, one person could have quite easilly dealt with me and processed the information. There is such beurocracy here, but not organised, its completely inept. Seriously, no one talks to one another so 8 people do the same job over and over again, and if you get someone who has a different opinion to the person prior, then you have to go back to the begining to start the whole thing again whilst they discuss and evaluate. Its shocking, how anything acutally gets done here i have no idea. really it is totally a mess. And yet they think this is ok, wait till they get Brendan Quinn the Project Manager on their case!!!!

Anyway, 1 hour and 20 minutes later I was let in. After such a thorough examination and deliberation of my documentation one would think I was on for a full strip search and even the unmentionable. But no, one guard decided he would check my right ankle. that was it!! What the blazes was going on, could have smuggled anything into that prison. Anyways, I was in.

I met Steven. He has given me permission to tell his story, which I sall do. He is 35, and his name is Steven Evitt. He lived on Barnwood Road, just off Welsh House Farm Road for a good few years, possibly between 1987 and 2003. He lived with his girlfriend, who, one she had given birth to their son, decided it was time to leave, So she did and left Steve with three kids to raise. He did so for a good few years, but had had enough of being treated like a doormat. So, some individual offered him £10,000 if he would do a drugs run. He jumped at it, good money and life in Quinton was crap. He flew to Nicaragua to meet the contact out here to smuggle through into the UK a quantity of Cocaine.

However, at the airport he was stopped by police (he was set up) and was arrested. The contact out here was arrested too and is serving his term alongside Steve. It seems organisers of this type of thing have two or three on a flight and so sacrifice one of them to distract officials from the other two.

He tells the story from the point of view that he was at his wits end and something big came his way. He did not think about it, or the consequences, he just wanted to get away from the life he had found himself in. In court he was given 25 years which is the maximum for drug smuggling. They threw the book at him. As I said recently, his sentence was reduced to 23 years, of which he has served 5. However, as he has worked throughout this term, the sentence can be considered as 10 years at the moment. He is a good man, unassuming but with the classic council estate gait. That is not to take anything away from him, because he greeted me with open arms and spent 40 minutes talking to me about what he had done and experienced. He is a good man. He made a mistake and now he is paying so very dearly for that. No one can excuse what he has done, no one, but in the end, it is likley that he will be 50 before he knows what liberty feels like. It is so very sad.

We talked about life in prison which is defnately hard. 6 of them to a cell that is 5m x 5m. They wash, urinate, defecate and clean dishes all in the same hole in the floor. Healthcare is non existent and the prison is run by gangs. Guards turn a blind eye as they are paid peanuts for what they do and so dont want to get involved in a fight between rival gangs. Steve mentioned that he finds himself in a full on fight once a week, which, from my initial feelings, is probably not too far from the truth. 'They love their knives in here' he said. It seems that knife attacks in the cells is very common, and Steve had a scar on his right hand where he had been stabbed 2 months ago. Luckily, it had been stictched properly.

The prison itself is very dirty, there is nothing what i would call hygeine. There is no Gym, no Facilities and no work. It seems there is not enough work to go around all the inmates so you grab what you can to keep going. Steve has had his down moments, and if I am honest I think he is doing exceptionally well considering. but, He has been ripped off by three lawyers so far and my discussions with Libby lead me to feel that he is being ripped off yet agian by the third. Which is a total shame, especially when Steve thinks he may have his sentence wiped out next year. Libby feels as though he may be being a little too optomistic considering everything can be bought here, including police, lawyers and judges. Nothing is safe from corruption. But I hope in my heart his lawyer is sincere and is working for Steves best interests.

She feels as though he may be getting his hopes up for a big fall. I avoided the subject, suffuce to say that i did ask him, if it did all fall through next year and his sentence is not cleared, would he be willing to serve his sentence in the UK. He said he would. One can only see what the new year brings.

Is it by chance i travel half way round the world to find a man in prison who lives four roads up from me? Not at all. The cynic may say I am reading too much into this, and Whilst I must remain seperate and try and set aside my emotional self, it is without doubt that part of this trip was to meet this man.

If I can ask for one thing it would be, if you beleive in the power of prayer, please, pray for this man. Prison in Nicaragua is not good and I can't even begin to tell you the feelings I had sitting in a hall full of prisoners and watching them be affectionate with their loved ones. Nobody can condone the crime. The prison is for rapists, murderers, drug traffickers and robbers, it is not a good environment, but steve is not of this group. he made a stupid mistake.

I have been in touch with him everyday by text and he is an appreciative guy. I continue to be in touch with him. I brought food to him today and topped up his mobile for him (it is a prohibited item in prison but the guards do turn blind eye). Please pray for his safety and for his sentence to be drastically reduced. He is a good guy keeping his head down as best he can, he told me he cant stand the violence.

I shall leave it there for now as the battery is due to collapse. I have his brothers address in Birmingham and will be going to see him when I return to the UK.

In the meantime, God bless you all, and thank you again for all your support.