Grace to the fallen?

- You are an orphan: you probably complain about injustice and resentment?

-No, sir. I came to ask for mercy, not justice.

A.S. Pushkin. Captain's daughter.

So it happened in our sad fatherland. Mashenka Mironova asked the Queen for her beloved only mercy, although she knew that Peter Grinev was an inseparable. Otherwise, Pushkin could not write. He brilliantly saw the Russian character, and in a situation of choice he determined Mashenka to do as it is characteristic of a Russian person. Why do we love the captain’s daughter, of course, no less.

A pair of past centuries has changed little. There is also no justice in Russia and there is no need to hope for it. All the country is also ruled by kings who degenerated into the Secretary Generals, presidents and premieres. True, if not civil society appeared, then at least the idea of ​​it and people who proclaim this idea. But miracles - and these people also demand not justice, but mercy.

On May 22, 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev was transferred to the appeal of human rights activists and public figures with an appeal to begin the liberation of political prisoners. The appeal was signed by Lyudmila Alekseev, Sergey Kovalev, Gleb Yakunin, Svetlana Gannushkina and many other worthy people. Even Vaclav Gavel signed. “... We urge you to have mercy on people who, in our opinion, have become victims of politically motivated persecution,” the authors of the appeal write. Next follows a list of the defendants in the “Yukos affairs”, the names of scientists convicted of espionage, and others.

The signing is clear that the convicts are innocent. It is clear that you can’t get justice. And pardon? Will you wait for mercy from power? Okay, that inexperienced freeds are counting on the mercy of the authorities, but the “grated” prisoners of Kovalev, Yakunin or Gavel do not know what a pardon is in the understanding of the authorities? Do they really have a shadow of doubt that today's Russian authorities (like yesterday’s Soviet) is, in principle, compassion is not characteristic. Humanity, mercy, forgiveness, justice - words not from their lexicon.

In truth, the calculation here is not for the mercy of the authorities, but for coercion - to force them to take this step under the pressure of society. There is nothing wrong with such pressure, this is normal - society should put pressure on power. However, we must remember that our power never makes concessions just like that, but always with at least some benefit for ourselves. Therefore, seeking a pardon is a game, which, of course, who wants, is playing. Processors pretend that they are counting on mercy, but in fact create a pressure tool. The authorities pretend that they are merciful, but in fact they extract from this the maximum propaganda benefit. In essence, a regular deal: for the Kodataev - with the authorities, for the authorities - with a prisoner, for the prisoner - with his conscience.

This is even in my memory of transactions - there are numbers. And they always pass in approximately the same scheme, although with some variations and features. Recently, there have been a lot of talk about pardon, about the presentation of petitions, about the attitude of society and the authorities. This is mainly due to the defendants in the "case of Yukos." Clotting about pardon is most often kind people who sincerely want a prisoner freedom at all costs. Alas, they usually either do not think, or simply do not know that any price cannot be paid for freedom. Even for life, not every price is paid. Sometimes, depending on the severity of the political situation and the time of action, cunning, killing two birds with one stone, are added to good people. On the one hand, they are noted in the list of progressively thinking and acutely sympathetic. On the other hand, they sign in the devotion of the authorities. After all, power loves when they ask her - she perceives it as the top of loyalty. For petitions are not punished. The request for a tyrant about condescension to someone and looks like a noble, and a tyrant appears. It is only important not to go too far so that the request does not look like a requirement - this power already does not like this. Therefore, it is dangerous to demand justice, but to ask for a pardon is not.

But no matter how much the authorities are satisfied with its own humanity, just like that, she will not give a zek to the will. Please behave well in the camp and cooperate with the administration. Do not want to knock - okay, but at least give written consent to cooperation. Enter the internal order section and put a red bandage into the hand - decide with whom you are. You have embarked on the path of correction or still think about your own dignity? Supporting the camp administration or do you defend your rights together with other prisoners? Want to have pardon or sit until the end of the deadline? Or maybe further. That's it.

Now it would be nice to write a petition yourself, but what, all others write for you. We must admit guilt and promise to improve. No, according to the law in the petition of pardon, it is not necessary to repent of the deed. Although they understand everything that forgiveness without repentance among people does not happen. Therefore, at least repentance is not required from the prisoner, and the camp administration is obliged to provide information about this. In all form, along with a petition for pardon and other accompanying documents. “The application for pardon by the administration of the institution is attached ... the submission of the administration of the institution with the characterization of the convict containing information about his behavior, attitude to study and work during the serving of the sentence, attitude to a perfect act.” ("Regulation on the procedure for consideration of petitions for pardon in the Russian Federation"). Clear business, ZEK can write anything, it is important - as the authorities evaluate it.

Not only for the political, but also for every prisoner, pardon is the cheese in the mousetrap. It is only from afar, from a beautiful -hearted free life seems free. And in the prison system, you need to pay very, very much for this. However, one exception in former times was suicide bombers. Their petitions for pardon were considered more seriously than the rest, and they did not need cooperation with the administration. Moreover, the filing of pardon was mandatory. In the Soviet years, if the sentence sentenced to the death penalty refused to “write a triumph”, the head of the investigative insulator filed a petition for him. But this is an exception to the rules.

And so each prisoner that compensated for pardon should break if he was not broken earlier. The meaning of the cops in the camps is the meaning of the cop-a whip and the gingerbread, break the will of the prisoner, to make him always humble, obedient to the authorities of a meek slave. (Wasn’t the whole idea of ​​the Soviet regime? And is it not for the current power?) There were a lot of gingerbread-additional dates, parcels and transfers, leave home for 10 days, “Undexing” (you go out of the zone without a convoy during the gates of the zone), amnesty, conditionally aircraft liberation, but the rarest and most sweet gingerbread.

On the other hand, the whip is exhausting work, eternal lack of sleep, cold, hunger, penalty area, PCT (chamber-type premises-intra-lager prison), special forces, contrast controllers, shepherds, a prominent shirt, abyss, press, covered prisons, scurvy, dystrophic and much more, about something else, something else. And I do not want to remember.

This is how the life of most prisoners passes - in the choice between the whip and the gingerbread, in maneuvering, in the ability to chew, in an attempt to survive physically and at the same time not to break, to maintain self -esteem. It’s not up to pardon - only “firmly embarked on the path of correction” can be counted on him.

Of course, how exactly a prisoner, seeking pardon, agrees with his conscience - a personal matter. But according to my observations, such agreements are usually badly reflected in others. Yes, and camp wisdom, after all, is for a reason: "Do not believe, do not be afraid, do not ask." This is especially true for political prisoners. Then the authorities tenaciously holds a man in his paws, carefully stepping towards her. Is it easy to sell only a piece of his soul to the devil? No, he wants everything, and the authorities demands to speak on television, lick friends, publicly repent of a minor crime. It was this very often that for political, the price for freedom was “at any cost”. Stopping along this path is quite difficult. I doubt that now everything has changed a lot. The authorities are usually trying to squeeze everything out of the prisoner to the maximum. Although, of course, she does not always succeed. And in some cases, it is satisfied simply by the very fact of the filing of pardon, believing that this is already enough and the prisoner is broken or compromised.

The conditions of each specific transaction may be different. However, the essence of the agreements between the company, power and concluded does not change from this. Some transactions categorically reject these transactions. They are quite satisfied with others. As they say, the matter is personal. Even, here, on the “hedgehog” I met that such transactions are both legal and reasonable, and inevitable. Indeed, whatever to ask for a ghoul that would not drink so many human blood? Suddenly sympathetic?

In order to conclude a pardon, it is necessary to recharge a fair amount of cynicism. Not only because a successful transaction should be preceded by obedient behavior and the “correct” attitude to its past activity, but also because it itself, like a refusal in it, is not easy to survive with a calm soul. Well, what is it - to accept mercy from the authorities that planted you for an imperfect crime? It’s even worse to be in the role of an unsuccessful petitioner. Such a moral victim - and to no avail. Humiliation is in one case, what is in the other.

Some consider these costs acceptable. Everyone in the soul has their own scales, on the cups of which he folds all the reasons for “for” and “against”. For other super -assessment of the resumption of political activity, returning to the family, to old parents, to scientific work, or just to free life outweighs everything else. Happiness is so tempting, especially when you dream of him in a prison cell. The only question is what can be sacrificed for this. And then everyone decides on his own, and then he is responsible for this decision. Himself, and not those who tempt him with freedom - for good considerations or from state calculation.

This should be taken into account by those who have recently been so inspired by a public campaign for pardoning specific prisoners and so indignant about a small number of signatures under collective appeals. I'm afraid they see only one, the humanitarian side of liberation for pardon. But there is another, moral side, hidden from the eyes of public activists. It is clearly visible to those who are on the other side of the barbed wire. Therefore, they do not always make a deal with conscience and power.