Hardened Criminals Held in Freedom: Doing Time on Norway's Island Prison
02/11/2011
By Nicola Abé
Der Spiegel
 The island of Bastøy in Norway is one of the most liberal prisons in the world. There are no walls, no bars on the windows and no regimentation of prisoners' lives. The idea is to teach them how to manage their time themselves. [Large] |
Part 1: Doing Time on Norway's Island Prison
No bars. No walls. No armed guards. The prison island of Bastøy in Norway is filled with some of the country's most hardened criminals. Yet it emphasizes self-control instead of the strictly regulated regimens common in most prisons. For some inmates, it is more than they can handle.
Freedom beckons on the opposite shore, where the lights glitter at night like rhinestones. The two-mile trip by boat to the mainland takes less than 10 minutes.
The boy isn't crying, the tears underneath his eyes are tattoos. He is standing in the snow, tall and broad, not knowing where to go at first. The guards took him from his cell to the ferry, which brought him to this island -- without handcuffs. Once he was there, he was left to his own devices, surrounded by red and yellow wooden houses and a church tower poking through the treetops. And this is supposed to be a prison.
He was given vouchers for 500 kroner (€63), so that he could go shopping in the small supermarket. He encounters men along the way who greet him, but Raymond Olsen lowers his gaze. He has been in prison seven times. People don't greet each other in prison. Olsen buys tobacco and a telephone card, walks into a small red telephone booth and calls a friend -- just like that.
No comments:
Post a Comment