The editorial team of "AKIpress Summary" together with the press service of the State Penitentiary Service shares his story.
Together with accomplices, he stole a significant amount of cigarettes worth 800,000 soms from a supermarket chain's warehouse and carjacked a Toyota Camry XV 75. When they were apprehended, the young man took all the blame upon himself. In 2024, he was sentenced to six years in prison.
“I thought I had real friends beside me. However, when I was incarcerated, no one reached out or supported me. Not even a package was sent,” he shares.
He sincerely regrets his actions and believes that a bad company pushed him onto the criminal path. His childhood memories are tied to living with his parents until the first grade, after which they moved abroad. His paternal grandmother took care of him. In the 6th grade, he moved to Bishkek with relatives and continued his education at a school in the northern part of the capital.
At the moment, the young man does not keep in touch with his parents and acknowledges that perhaps if they had been around, his life would have turned out differently.
He speaks little about himself, but when it comes to free peers, he becomes more emotional. His advice to his peers is to listen to their parents.
According to him, many who ignore family advice and choose the “street” ultimately find themselves in similar walls.
“If I had listened to my loved ones, I wouldn’t be here,” he emphasizes.
The young man noted that the colony has taught him discipline: here they teach him to get up on time, follow a routine, control his emotions, and use time wisely.
He is taking welding courses and upon completion will receive a diploma of vocational education, while the document will not indicate that the training took place in a colony, so it won’t hinder him when looking for a job after his release.
In his free time, he enjoys football and communicates with other inmates.
In February, he will turn 18, and in connection with this, he will be transferred to an adult facility.
He realizes that it will be more difficult there. In his opinion, an adult prison should not be a time to “just serve the sentence.” He wants to learn, develop, and return to society as a completely different person.
After his release, the young man intends to start a new life. His dream is to open his own small business and live honestly, without theft and deceit.
“I want to achieve everything through my own hard work,” he emphasized.
His grandmother and uncles are waiting for him on the outside, and he assures that he does not plan to return to old acquaintances.
The young man also shared details about life in the juvenile colony.
Wake-up begins at 06:30. Immediately after that, there is a run and exercise, then the inmates are divided into groups, clean the premises, and tidy up. After that, there is breakfast.
Next come work activities, formation, and inspection. Then school classes until 12:00, after which vocational training (welder and seamstress). After lunch, work continues until 16:00, followed by dinner and doing homework. Lights out is at 21:00.
Sometimes he falls asleep immediately, while other times he lies awake for a long time, thinking about freedom, his loved ones, and what his return to normal life will be like.
