Switzerland: "in the evening, the shouting starts"

// A series of testimonials of “a typical day in prison”

Days go by, but just like outside prison, no two days in prison are ever the same. Prison conditions, the daily routine, possible visitors, medical treatment, food, or even access to the right of defence, vary greatly from one prison to another, and from one country to another. Prison Insider publishes testimonials from people who have been, or are currently in prison, and from people who are able to share their experience. This series of testimonials, “A typical day in prison”, puts the truth behind worldwide prison conditions into words.

Georges was incarcerated for 12 months in the prison of Fribourg while awaiting sentencing. He recounts how a day in prison unfolds.

AT SEVEN A.M., the armoured door opens and the warder says, “Good morning, milk or coffee?”
This marks the beginning of the day, which will be identical to the one before and the one after. Once I take the coffee, the door closes. At eight o’clock every day, we are given cleaning products, and we have one hour to clean our cells. At nine o’clock, everyone goes back into their cells. The warder closes the doors until ten, when we can go to an area measuring twenty by ten metres until eleven o’clock. Since all the cells are single occupancy, it’s the only time when we can see other people and talk a little.

Seeing the only people who, in that exact moment, haven’t given up on me.

What certain screams mean

From eleven o’clock till noon, I watch TV, which costs me a euro a day. If no one comes to see me or puts money in my account, there’s no more TV time because it’s practically impossible to work: there are too few jobs for the number of inmates. At noon, lunch comes and I have one hour max to eat, because on the dot of one, the warders come to take the trays back, even if we haven’t finished. Between one and five o’clock, I do nothing but watch TV and sleep a little, then supper is at five. The meals are good, but on Friday nights, we get a bag with two apples, a pear, a big chunk of bread and two pieces of cheese, and that’s all there is until Monday morning. It is important to know that shower times are included in the cleaning hour. In the evening, the shouting starts, and the screams, and the prisoners striking the armoured doors.

It’s a really difficult and complicated moment because we prisoners know very well what certain screams mean, but no one says anything, we don’t break the code of silence.

All the inmates get excited about visits, which only happen on Saturdays, for one hour, in little rooms with Plexiglas separating us from visitors, so shouting is the only way to be heard. But that’s not what’s important – what’s important is seeing people from the outside, seeing the only people who, in that exact moment, haven’t given up on me. Then the routine repeats itself over and over.

Translated by Maura Schmitt.