[pensive music playing]
[Raphael Rowe] Plzeň prison in the Czech Republic.
One of Europe's biggest producers of crystal meth.
[dog barks]
[in Czech] We were going to produce 105 kilograms of meth in two years.
[Rowe in English] Almost one in three Czech prisoners
were crystal meth users before they were sent to prison.
[in Czech] I started to inject meth, and it all went bad.
When you're on it, you don't have to sleep or eat or anything.
You just enjoy it.
[Rowe in English] In the prison, there's a challenge to keep drugs out.
[Rowe] Can you see that piece of string coming down?
That is a way of moving drugs from cells during the lockup period.
[dog barking]
[in Czech] Drugs find a way in everywhere. That’s just how it is.
[hip-hop music playing]
My name is Raphael Rowe.
I'm spending a week locked up inside this Czech prison…
[inmate yells]
…but it's not my first time behind bars.
I served 12 years for a murder I didn't commit.
Now I'm traveling the globe,
discovering what life is really like…
[barks]
…inside some of the world's toughest prisons.
[lock clicks]
[dramatic music playing]
[Rowe] The Czech Republic.
-[officer yells] -Europe's crystal meth capital.
Twenty meth labs, often DIY operations
set up in people's homes,
are raided here every single month.
Injecting crystal meth is more common here
than anywhere else in the European Union.
One study even found that fish in Czech rivers
show signs of meth addiction.
The evidence is that nowhere else in Europe
has a bigger problem with crystal meth than here in the Czech Republic,
and for the producers and those who deal and sell the drugs,
there's a lot of money to be made.
And it's such a highly addictive drug
that its users often commit crime to fund their habit.
[Rowe] It's up to the National Drugs Chief,
General Jakub Frydrych,
to keep a lid on this epidemic of crystal meth,
known here as Pervitin.
How would you describe the scale of the issue here?
[in Czech] The phenomenon of methamphetamine is evil.
Pervitin is certainly the drug in the Czech Republic
that causes the most health, social,
and criminal risks surrounding drugs.
We see it in criminal groups that are involved in car theft.
These are often people
who take advantage of the stimulant effects of meth,
and they actually use it when committing criminal acts.
[Rowe in English] Small-scale labs are now being joined by bigger players.
[in Czech] We have been experiencing a transformation in the last five years.
And this lies in the fact that methamphetamine
is being imported on a massive scale into Europe.
They used to catch a ton, a ton and a half a year,
but now, it is about six to seven tons
of seized methamphetamine in Europe.
[dramatic music playing]
[Rowe in English] The meth epidemic means a huge challenge for Czech prisons.
Thirty percent of inmates were using crystal meth in the 12 months
before their sentence.
I'm spending the next week locked up in Plzeň,
one of the largest prisons in the country,
to find out how they deal with the problem.
I've heard this prison has a bold approach to beating addiction,
a strict anti-drug program, which I'm joining for the next week.
I don't know if this prison can even realistically
help those who have an addiction to such a serious drug.
[Rowe] But I guess I'm about to find out.
Half of inmates, the less dangerous ones,
are instructed to make their own way to prison.
Arriving on foot is a first for me.
[doorbell chimes]
[Rowe] Got more barbed wire than a barbed wire factory.
-It's huge, this place. -[guard 1 in Czech] Follow my colleague.
[eerie music playing]
[in English] This reminds me of a London prison I was in
called Wandsworth, one of Britain's most famous prisons.
Um, not a comfortable feeling to be inside a place that reminds you
of somewhere you've spent time yourself.
[door hinge creaks]
[guard 1 in Czech] So, take off all of your items.
[Rowe in English] As a former lifer,
I'll be treated as a very dangerous prisoner
and subjected to an especially invasive search.
[guard 1 in Czech] You can take off your other things.
Keep your underwear on for now.
Do you use drugs?
[Rowe in English] I don't use drugs, no.
[in Czech] Turn your back towards me and do three squats.
All the way down.
Now spread your arms.
Stick your tongue out at me.
Your tongue up.
Mm-hmm.
All right.
Now lift up your scrotum.
Mm-hmm.
All right. So, get dressed.
[in English] It's a thorough search.
Lifting up my bollocks and everything.
[tense music playing]
[guard in Czech] Now take this blanket and put all the things inside of it.
[pensive music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[inmate moans]
[Rowe in English] My cell will be on the prison's special drugs wing,
where 80 prisoners a year are selected to undergo a ten-month rehab.
I've heard it combines strict rules
with compulsory therapeutic activities.
[Rowe coughs]
-Hello. -[man speaks Czech]
[Rowe] I'm good. This one?
-Yeah. -[Rowe] Hey.
[in Czech] If anything were to happen, there is an emergency button on the wall.
You push it, and I will come.
Goodbye.
[indistinct chatter]
[in English] Okay. How are you doing?
-Hi, Petr. -[Rowe] Petr.
-Hi, I'm Kuba. -[Rowe] How are you doing?
-Kuba? -Yeah, yeah.
[Rowe] Kuba.
-Hi, Marek. -[Rowe] Marek.
Can you show me around? This is… This is where my mattress is?
-Yes, this is yours. -[Rowe] Is this where you are, Petr?
-Yes. -Okay.
So, this is where you two--
[Marek in Czech] He sleeps here. I sleep here.
[Rowe in English] And you have a toilet and a wash basin.
-No shower. -No, no, no.
[Rowe] So most prisoners on this section, if not all the prisoners on this section,
have a drug problem?
[in Czech] Yeah, basically, most of the people are here
because of drugs or alcohol.
They come here to get treated.
[in English] Tell me a little bit more about, um, how the regime works here.
[in Czech] So, it’s like, they make you do the cleaning,
so you forget about the drugs.
[Petr] If you want to do something, you have to work for it.
You have to work on yourself.
But there are also these "good" people, you know?
Like these "hotovci" who walk around and check things.
They act like they are the guards, so they feel like they are above you.
[in English] So, they're what you call a snitch or a grass, or…
They report to the guards.
[Rowe] The so-called hotovci
are a group of prisoners who have completed the ten-month program
and then been chosen to stay on the wing
to assist and help supervise their fellow prisoners.
Hi.
[Rowe] I've been summoned to report to the chief hotovci.
I'm Raphael.
[in Czech] I am Mates.
-[Rowe in English] Mates? -Yeah.
[Rowe] What are the rules that I have to conform to, then?
What do I need to know so that I don't get reported by you?
[in Czech] Yeah, well, I guess the basic rules are
to walk down the hallway dressed up.
No smoking in the cells. That's what the smoking room is for.
If you get caught, you get a disciplinary punishment.
Twice a day, at eight in the morning
and at six in the evening, there's a cell check,
and the cell has to be clean, right?
[in English] Okay, that's quite… Okay.
[Mates in Czech] Also, be careful when you go for lunch,
do not talk to anyone from other wings.
If the guard sees you,
you’ll get a disciplinary notice for unauthorized communication.
That’s just the way it works around here.
If you’re not happy with this, we can take this to the guards’ office,
and you can leave.
[Rowe in English] They clearly take discipline seriously here.
Back in the cell,
I want to make double sure that I don't break any rules.
[Rowe] Every time you put a coat, you have to button it up?
-Yes. You must. Yes. -[Rowe] On the landing?
Why? What can happen? What's the consequences?
[in Czech] If you repeatedly fail to follow the rules
and you get reprimanded by the guards, you might end up in solitary.
[dramatic music playing]
[Rowe in English] It's very strict.
As he describes it, they're a small community,
and they've got their own rules.
Guys wanna be here, so they have to live by those rules.
This is a serious place, in that they take what they do here very serious.
And by that, I mean, um, I'm already feeling controlled,
and this is where it starts.
[dramatic music playing]
[Rowe] It's my first morning at Plzeň prison in the Czech Republic.
Our cell doors are opened at 5:00 am.
Before breakfast, I'm shown around by Petr, Jakub, and Marek.
One of their main points of contact on the wing
is a civilian rather than a prison officer.
[in Czech] Here is the support worker’s room.
They’re here for most of the day.
If you need something, you can come here.
[Rowe in English] So, this is like a social worker?
Somebody who you go to to talk about
any issues you might have or something?
[Petr in Czech] Yes.
[Rowe in English] Inmates have to pass frequent drug tests,
and unlike the main part of the prison,
they have to take regular counseling
and complete chores and therapeutic activities.
If they don't cooperate, they risk being sent off the wing.
Just looking at the two different colors of the walls.
I'm trying to get my head around what… what is actually meant here.
[in Czech] Those who are finishing the program are on this side.
When you progress in the program, you get a better room.
[hip-hop music playing]
[Rowe in English] After grabbing some rolls for breakfast
and a headcount, the daily routine gets underway
with cleaning every inch of the wing.
[Rowe] Why I have the guard behind me inspecting my work, I don't know.
Oh God. Look.
I… [chuckles] I have missed a speck.
[in Czech] Finish.
-[in English] Finish. Finish. -Finish? Job done?
-[Petr] Mm-hmm. -[Rowe exhales]
That was absolutely fucking pointless, if I'm honest.
You know, you've got grown men
who are trying to beat their drug addictions
being shown how to sweep a floor.
It's menial, meaningless work in my eyes.
[inmate yells]
[Rowe] So far, I haven't really had a chance
to get to know my cellmates.
One started taking and dealing Pervitin, crystal meth,
when he was still in school. Marek is still just 22.
Can you read and write?
[in Czech] Yes, I can.
[in English] But you're still at basic school level.
[in Czech] I finished ninth grade in prison
because I had my first sentence as a juvenile.
[in English] You ended up coming back into prison
before you could do anything more purposeful in your life.
[in Czech] I just went back to what I knew how to do.
I started selling drugs again.
I started doing the same things again
before they locked me up.
I didn't have time for education, and I didn't even think about it.
[pensive music playing]
[Rowe in English] Petr also got into trouble in his teens
and was taken away from his family.
[Petr in Czech] When I was released from the previous sentence,
I got married.
[in English] What was your previous sentence?
[Petr in Czech] Causing serious injury.
[in English] How many times have you been to prison, then?
[in Czech] From 13 to 18,
then I was out for a year and a half,
and then I was locked up for two and a half years.
[in English] What did you do at 13 years old?
My father is a big alcoholic,
and, uh, he'd fight with me, he'd fight with my mother.
[in Czech] I'd fight with my classmates a lot.
And it got to a point where they just locked me up.
When they let me out at 18, my dad hanged himself,
and I started to inject Pervitin.
Then I broke a guy’s legs, um,
and they locked me up again.
When they released me, I really wanted to change my life,
and I got a girlfriend.
I proposed to her.
Then she cheated on me.
So she did it with this one guy, and I beat him up.
Now I've been convicted for harming other people four times.
[dramatic music plays]
[Rowe in English] He's a troubled man.
Troubled very young man. He's only 25 years old.
So he's got his whole life ahead of him
if he can get to grips with the challenges he needs to overcome now.
Poor Marek. He's 22 years old,
and you can see you don't need him to tell you
that he's scared. He's scared of his future.
All of these guys are gonna get out, and then the real challenge starts.
Has this worked?
[Rowe] In the afternoon, my cellmates and me
are sent out to work in the prison garden.
[pensive music playing]
[Rowe] Have you built all of this pathway?
[Petr] Uh, no.
-I make this. -[Rowe] Yeah?
[Petr] And I make this.
[in Czech] I like it. You don't think
about the things that happen to you in your life.
That you're sad, you miss your family, and so on.
It’s better for the psyche.
[Rowe in English] I've met several inmates already
whose lives have been wrecked by crystal meth,
but no one yet who's in here for producing it.
Then I get chatting to a prisoner called Jakub.
[Jakub in Czech] I was kind of an entrepreneur.
My job was to scrap cars ecologically,
so I had a permit to import chemicals
that I was able to buy officially.
[in English] What was your business with Pervitin?
[in Czech] We were a group of 24 people,
and we were going to produce 105 kilograms of meth in two years.
[in English] That's a lot of, um, Pervitin to be producing.
So this is part of an organized crime group, was it?
[in Czech] Yes, I supplied them with the chemicals.
A guy was in charge of getting the pills.
And another five cooks
who we were delivering the chemicals and pills to.
And they split it between them.
And I thought if I sold the chemicals,
and because they are also used to make fireworks,
I thought it wouldn't be illegal.
[in English] But you knew that you were selling it
to organized criminals who were producing crystal meth.
So, what is the street value of 105 kilograms of Pervitin?
Four million euros.
[Rowe] Four million euros.
What do you think now of the fact that, you know, men like you are responsible
for the downfall of lots of men and women in this country?
What do you think about that now you're in prison,
and you see a lot of these guys?
[in Czech] Now that I am here, I see the people who are here,
that they have lost their families, money, and jobs.
You know the ones that took the bad-quality meth
who have lost their teeth.
We took pride in giving
uh, pure, uncut meth.
Look. [chuckles]
[Rowe in English] Is that a Pervitin bag? Drug bag?
Yeah, drug bag. Yeah. [chuckles]
[Rowe] Yeah. Luckily, it doesn't have any drugs in there. Oh, well.
[Jakub chuckles]
[Rowe] That amuses you, does it? [chuckles]
The man who supplied the drugs
that's ruined so many people's lives is amused by a little bag of emptiness.
[Rowe] I've got no way of knowing whether this is really a drug bag
or whether Jakub just has a poor sense of humor.
[dramatic swell]
Without major producers at whatever level,
um, the drug wouldn't exist, would it?
And until men like Jakub are brought down by the authorities,
the drug will continue to be produced.
But I think he hasn't quite grasped how significant his role is
in the addiction of people who end up at rock bottom.
And there's always gonna be that hierarchy difference
between the manufacturers
and those like Petr
and Jakub and Marek, my cellmates,
who are the vulnerable kids, young men who end up taking that drug.
-[hip-hop music playing] -[door hinge creaks]
[indistinct chatter]
Yeah, I got some jam, a cup of tea, and some bun.
[tense music playing]
[Rowe] I've barely had a chance to drink my tea,
but Petr is already gearing up for something.
[Petr in Czech] After breakfast, we have to clean up.
They check if there’s any dust.
Like here, on the top of the doors.
If there's any dust on the chairs, right here on the table,
under the cabinets, if everything is cleaned up.
If beds are made properly.
They check everything.
[in English] What happens if they find dust?
[in Czech] Then you get a report, and if you get three of them,
you will get a "red mark" and get restrictions.
[Rowe in English] After roll call,
the five wing prefects or hotovci are on the prowl.
-[Petr] These are the hotovci. -[Rowe] Hotovci.
They go and look to check if you have a clean room.
-[Rowe] They're the ones you don't like. -[Petr] Yes. [laughs]
If we don't clean the room.
[indistinct yells]
So if he reports to the guards,
the prisoner reports to the guards if it's clean or not clean?
Mm-hmm. Yes.
No wonder people don't like him.
[sucks teeth] No.
[Rowe] I'm discovering something new every day.
I mean, this is not just about containment.
It's about organization. It's about discipline.
There's a structure here, um…
that these guys obviously conform to because if they don't,
I suspect they could lose the right to be on this program or even punished.
[inmate whistling]
[Rowe] Fortunately, it's not all rules and cleaning.
The inmates also have therapies designed to reduce stress and violence,
such as yoga run by a prisoner.
Good turnout. Lots of grunts and groans.
This one?
[Rowe] Mates, the hotovci who I met on my first day,
has already completed the drug program,
and I want to find out how it worked out for him.
He looks after the prison's own tropical fish.
[in Czech] Do you know how to steal oil?
-[Rowe in English] Yeah, yeah, yeah. -You know?
Yeah. I'm not gonna do that though.
[in Czech, laughing] I am good at stealing petrol. I'll show you.
[water flowing]
And now with this hand.
-This hand. Okay. -[in English] All right. Okay.
[in Czech] Be careful not to suck up the fish.
Now let go.
[Rowe in English] How did you get onto the program?
Why were you on the program in the first place?
[Mates in Czech] Every time I start taking drugs,
I start stealing and driving without a driver's license
and running away from the cops.
The same thing over and over.
[in English] When was the last time you took a drug?
[in Czech] I haven't had a drug since I got locked up.
I really take it seriously, mainly…
I think mainly because of my family, because of my son,
and because of my girlfriend, who still believes in me,
even though I am just, as my mom would say, incorrigible.
I am behind bars because I got punished for my behavior.
[in English] The program, the wing where they're trying to give up drugs,
but what are the other benefits?
[in Czech] The biggest benefit is that
they really try to help you and they work with you.
Specialists, psychologists, and therapists
take care of each individual here
and solve their specific problems with them.
If you look at the other wings that are here,
drugs are all they know there.
It's there every day.
People are injecting drugs there. They would kill for drugs.
They don’t care about what happens in a week, two weeks.
Or even when they get out. They only care about the now.
[pensive music playing]
[Rowe in English] Hotovcis, like Mates, have gone through the program
that Petr and the others are going through,
and they've been successful,
so they've been rewarded with these trusted prisoner roles.
And I think it's quite clever, really. I think it's quite clever in that
it's giving these guys a responsibility
they probably never had before in their lives.
And I find that interesting because I think it's a stepping stone
to them giving up their old lifestyle of taking Pervitin, maybe,
and being part of the criminal fraternity.
So far, so good. He's a success.
But the real challenge starts when he's released.
[Rowe] Whether they're a hotovci or not,
all the prisoners on my wing
get a regular hour a day out on the exercise yard.
Go ahead.
-[Rowe in English] Me? -You.
[Rowe] Two.
-[Rowe grunts] -[inmate 1] Yeah! [laughs]
[inmate 2 in Czech] Come on, let's go!
-[Petr in English] Hey, hey, hey! -[inmate 3] Come on, come on, come on!
[in Czech] Come on!
-[inmate 2] Let's go! -[Petr] Come on!
[inmates chuckle]
[in English] I'm out of practice.
[Rowe] The yard is surrounded by cell windows,
and I spot something up there that looks suspicious.
[Rowe] Marek. The piece of string going from the top cell to the other cell,
is that how they move things around?
-Coffee. Tobacco. -Whatever.
[inmate in Czech] Drugs.
-[inmates laugh] -[in English] All right.
It looks like that's what's happening over there right now.
[Rowe] I want to know more from my cellmate, Marek,
about what he's up against in his fight to stay off crystal meth.
[in Czech] Basically, I have tried almost everything.
It's a drug for all purposes.
You don't have to sleep or eat when you are on meth.
Nothing, you just enjoy it.
It’s still stronger than me.
You just can't escape it. When that happens, it happens.
You have to be prepared for the fact
that you will screw everything up again. You will fuck it all up again,
and you have to start all over again.
[Rowe in English] They talked about Pervitin.
They say it's the best buzz they get.
But it does make you feel sad.
If I'm honest, to feel that this young 22-year-old,
his destiny is to get out of prison and go back to drugs.
And it wouldn't surprise me
if some of these guys are… are sort of still using
and pulling the wool over the authorities' eyes.
It does make you scratch your head and wonder what can be done.
[pensive music playing]
[rain pattering]
[dramatic music plays]
[Rowe] The prison tells me that in tests of over 1,300 inmates,
only 5% were positive for crystal meth or other drugs.
They say even this is higher than they'd like,
but I've heard plenty of stories from inmates themselves
about drugs in the main parts of the prison.
So for today,
I'm leaving the drugs wing to see for myself.
I've been assigned to the on-site factory,
where 300 inmates make metal walkways and stairs
for a private company at half the Czech minimum wage.
On the factory floor, I meet Larry, who's here for theft.
-[Rowe] So, this is your job. -This is my job.
-Okay. -I'm cutting…
I'm cutting here the metal strips,
and these strips and these plates, uh, go together.
So you're cutting them, they turn into this.
Yeah.
You put them there, and they get compressed together.
Together. And there is… there is… There are the…
-The end result. -Yeah.
[Rowe] And you get 8,500 koruna a month for this.
-It isn't so much, but what can you do? -Better than nothing.
[Rowe] When the prison workers get a break,
it's a chance for me to gauge the extent of the drugs problem
here in the main part of the prison.
[Rowe] Since I've been in this prison,
I hear that this prison has a problem with drugs.
Pervitin, in particular, is a serious problem.
Are any of you guys drug users?
[in Czech] I use drugs, but I'm not addicted.
[inmates laugh]
[in English] Are you laughing because he is addicted to drugs?
[laughing]
[Rowe] Why do they laugh at you, Michal?
[in Czech] I don't know. They are both junkies.
[inmates continue laughing]
[in English] Are you junkies as well?
Sometimes.
[chuckles]
[Rowe] Sometimes. Pervitin? A little Pervitin?
[inmate 1 in Czech] We are Czechs,
and "gingerbread" has sort of a culture here.
It is sad, but that's how it is, isn't it?
-Huh? -[inmate] Mmm.
Well, that's just our culture.
[Michal clears throat]
-Right, Michal? -It is.
[in English] Where are all three of you
in this cycle of drug-taking and criminality now?
I mean, has prison made any difference to who you are, what you do outside?
And what you would do at the end of this sentence
when you… you get out?
[in Czech] The prison won't help us with that,
and we will continue using it.
Those who like it will keep on using it. Why would we lie?
You're finally being honest.
[inmates chuckle]
[in English] You can't be any more honest than that, can you? I mean…
-[laughing] -[Rowe] Well, thanks for your honesty.
[Rowe] Right now, these guys seemed resigned
to not staying drug-free when they're released.
But for those who want to change their lives,
the prison does offer technical training
in a range of skills.
[in Czech] Now we find ourselves on the premises
of a technical school for prison services.
These are the workshops where you will do specialized training.
So this will be your spot.
[in English] This one?
[in Czech] So this is the blueprint that we will follow.
Here at this technical school, they can learn the basics of drilling,
welding, and reading blueprints.
That means that they can use this field even outside.
They are qualified for the work.
[in English] Your name?
-Uh, Anthony. -Anthony.
Here.
Like…
-Yeah? -Yeah.
-Am I doing this right? -[man translating]
[Anthony in Czech] Yeah.
[in English] How long have you been in the prison?
[man translating]
[in Czech] This is my fourth year.
Drugs.
"Drogs."
[in English] Selling drugs? Using drugs?
[man translating]
[in Czech] No. Cooking them. Making them.
[in English] How many times have you been in prison then?
[man translating]
[in Czech] Four times.
[in English] What were you in prison for the other three times?
[man translating]
[in Czech] Drugs as well. "Drogs."
-[man in English] Drugs. -Cooking drugs again?
-[man translating] -[Anthony] Yeah.
[Rowe in English] So you've been in this workshop doing this for two years.
Has it helped you? Is it helping you?
[in Czech] Yeah, some. Yeah.
[in English] How is it helping?
[in Czech] Well, first of all, time flies by faster.
Secondly, you get to see something new. I've never worked in my life.
So for me, this is kind of fun.
[tools whirring]
Any new skill is a weapon in your armory,
if you like, for when you get out of prison
to try and get a job, which is what it's all about.
That's what prison should do. Teach prisoners new skills.
It is providing them with something that they didn't have in their life,
and that can only be a good thing.
[pensive music playing]
[dramatic music plays]
[Rowe] Today I'm going to switch sides
and hang out with the prison guards.
First, they came for me
to see their efforts to keep drugs out of the prison.
[dramatic sting]
So, where am I going now? I'm gonna go and meet the dog handler
who searches property being sent into the prison
from prisoners' families.
And… And what is it the dog is searching?
[in Czech] Opiates, drugs.
Pervitin, heroin, marijuana.
-[in English] Is it safe to come in? -[speaks Czech]
Okay.
Hello. Hello.
[in Czech] The dog is actually the most efficient thing we have.
It can find something that we won't find
under an x-ray or somewhere else.
Yes, this mail has arrived today,
but the dog checks it before it goes to another control
and then to the stuff that gives the mail to the prisoners.
[Rowe in English] It'll take more than a sniffer dog
to keep drugs out of a prison as big as this.
Today, the guards are undergoing riot training.
Damn, they look like they're ready to do business.
[dog barks]
[Rowe] With over 1000 prisoners locked up here,
they have to be ready for trouble.
And today, I'm playing the role of a violent prisoner.
It reminds me of my own time inside
and what it's like to face overwhelming force.
[dog barking]
[clamoring]
[Rowe] Oh fuck.
The dog has just taken down the last of my team of rioters.
Ooh.
It doesn't matter how big and tough you are
and how much effort you put into fighting them off.
They are bigger. They are stronger. And they will take you down.
[indistinct yells]
[Rowe] When I was in prison for real,
I was sent to the segregation unit
more times than I can count.
And here in Plzeň, segregation is a busy place.
[in Czech] The staircase is narrow, so please be careful.
[keys jingling]
[gate unlocks]
Actually, it's the worst place in prison
a man could go to.
[in English] How many cells do you have at your disposal
for problem prisoners?
[in Czech] Thirty-two cells.
[in English] Are they all occupied at the moment?
[in Czech] Most of them are.
Let's take a look at this one.
[in English] Come on.
Okay. It can keep up to two prisoners in.
[guard] Yes, two prisoners.
[in English] Do you think it helps punishing prisoners in this way?
Does it help you manage the prison population?
[in Czech] The troubled inmates realize they’ve done something wrong.
When they go back to their cell,
to their wing, they’ve learned a lesson.
And they behave themselves.
[in English] Do you know what the maximum amount of time
that a prisoner can be sent to segregation for?
[in Czech] It really varies. It depends on what the convict has done.
The maximum can be up to 28 days.
[door slams shut]
[keys jingling]
[Rowe in English] The stark reality of how they punish prisoners in segregation.
And I know because I have spent 28 days
in segregation cells like this on my own without privileges.
I know how tough it is to survive one day,
let alone 28 fucking days.
[guard in Czech] Calm down.
[man speaks indistinctly]
Am I allowed to speak to anybody down here?
Find out what it's like for them,
what they did, whether they have learned their lesson?
[in Czech] Unfortunately, it's not possible at this time.
[in English] Okay, so there's a guard there, not this guard,
but there's a guard there saying absolutely no,
as if he's got something to hide.
Has the guy in this cell
on 23-hour bang-up, is he learning a lesson?
That's all I want to know.
Um, but the atmosphere has changed, the dynamics have changed, the…
Not really happy, so it's probably best I leave.
Shall we go?
[guard] Yeah. Go.
[Rowe] But back on the drugs wing,
there's a very different side of the regime on show.
Some of the inmates I've got to know
are in a group therapy session
aimed at getting them ready
to face down their demons when they get out.
[in Czech] And if I'm doing it for myself, I can solve these things.
I have the right to be sad, angry, off-balance.
I do have the right to this. A person does have the right to struggle.
But I know that I have the inner strength.
[inmate] Mmm.
I can rely on it,
and I don't need to drown in alcohol or drugs.
[Jakub] When it comes to alcohol,
I think it can also be a medicine up to a certain point.
That if someone has…
My grandpa used to have a shot of plum brandy every morning.
And he'd be fine, but no. An alcoholic should just…
He shouldn't be drinking. A gambler should not play at all,
and a drug addict should not…
I didn't wanna go near people to have fun, just laugh around. Not that.
I wanted to get drunk, sit at home,
and watch the video from my wedding--
-[therapist] You were tormenting yourself. -Yeah. I liked it.
I just liked it.
[indistinct chatter]
[Rowe in English] This sort of therapy really can help prisoners beat addiction,
but back in the cell, I find my youngest cellmate, Marek.
[gentle music playing]
How long are you serving again, Marek?
[in Czech] I’ve been here for two-and-a-half years,
and I have four years ahead of me.
[in English] So, you've got to do six and a half years.
That's your prison sentence, six and a half years.
[in Czech] There is a chance that after half your sentence,
which in my case means three years, I could ask for a conditional release.
[Rowe in English] Do you think you'll get it?
[in Czech] Uh, I don't think so.
[Rowe in English] Why?
[in Czech] This is what I'm worried about. I can’t stop myself from using it yet.
[in English] This is supposed to be a drug-free wing.
[in Czech] Drugs find a way in everywhere. That’s just how it is.
They get absolutely everywhere.
[Rowe in English] Having a wing like this
has helped reduce the addiction of these prisoners.
But if you've been consuming drugs since you were young,
and they have overtaken your life,
just giving it up in prison has got to be one
of the most challenging places.
[pensive music playing]
[dramatic music plays]
[Rowe] Today's my last day inside Plzeň prison.
[pensive music continues]
-[keys jingling] -[gate unlocks]
[speaking in Czech]
[Rowe] All week, my cellmate Petr, despite everything he's been through,
has seemed calm and genuinely determined
to break his addiction for good.
Something is giving him a strength
that not many of the crystal meth prisoners have got.
It's Sunday afternoon, and Petr, my cellmate,
has invited me to… to a church service.
[speaks Czech]
How are you doing?
[speaks Czech]
[in Czech] Here in prison, you have the great advantage
of a lot of spare time, which you can use to better yourself.
This is where the sin ends. This is where the misery fades away.
-Amen. -[inmates] Amen.
[priest] Before the Word of God is spoken,
if you have a prayer in your heart,
a brief thank you to God, or anything.
Dear God, I would like to thank the priest
that because of him, I have woken, because of him, I have seen God,
and I have believed.
Protect my family, my mother. Protect all the people in the world.
Protect all the people who deserve it.
I love you as my only master. I honor you, God. Amen.
-[priest in English] Amen. -[inmates] Amen.
Lord God, Jesus, thank you for every day,
Thank you for all you do for us
and for being here with us. Amen.
-[priest] Amen. -[inmates] Amen.
[Rowe in English] How do you feel when you come out of there?
How do you feel emotionally after a service?
[Petr in Czech] It's very empowering.
[in English] I'm powerful.
[in Czech] A person is happier when someone loves them.
[in English] And the person who don't have love, who don't have family…
We need the love. We are the people. We need the love.
And this, this is the love for me.
[Rowe] Okay.
[gentle music playing]
[Rowe] It's time to say goodbye
to all three of my cellmates.
I just wanted to say thank you for making me feel welcome.
[Petr] Mm-hmm.
I was in your position at your ages, you… you know,
and I got out, and I found a different purpose.
I found a different life.
You're capable of doing that too, you know.
It really does sound like that's what you want, Petr.
I get the impression
that you really want to get out. You want…
You know, you're determined. I can see that's in you.
So you should be able to achieve that.
Marek and Jakub, you know,
you… you stand a chance too, if you really want it.
[in Czech] We really thank you.
It was an amazing experience for us. We’ll miss you.
You reminded me a lot of what it’s like to be outside.
And I’m really going to be sad. [chuckles]
-[in English] Good luck, man. Good luck. -Thank you.
Good luck, Marek.
-Good luck, Petr. -[inmates speak Czech]
Take care, guys. Okay.
[speaks Czech]
It's… It's harder when they're so young.
It's harder. You look at that little Marek.
Every time I look at him, his little teddy bear eyes
looks up at me with desperation,
and… and I'm as hard as they come in reality,
but I'm as soft as any other human being
who looks at another human being,
especially a young human being, who's not had much chance and think,
"Fuck, what more can we do?"
And you wanna take him by the hand, or I do, and say,
"Right. Follow me, and I'm gonna point you in the right direction."
[tender music playing]
[Rowe] Before I leave Plzeň prison, I want to meet the prison director,
Colonel Pavel Kopačka.
[Rowe] How big a problem would you say you face in your prison with drugs?
[in Czech] I think that this is a problem in every prison in the world
because getting a drug into a facility
is much easier than getting through a bigger item.
We try to swab as much as possible, and if somebody uses a drug,
if somebody uses an addictive substance,
and we find out, we usually punish them
with one of the harshest punishments that we can give.
We consider it one of the most serious offenses
that a prisoner can commit.
[Rowe in English] And what's the logic behind the program
on the wing that… that I went to?
Why is the regime so strict?
[in Czech] Well, the regime is set up this way
so the prisoners get used to certain habits.
If they are addicted,
they have to,
in our opinion, just get some self-control.
Learn how to behave,
and they can do that by adhering to the rules.
[in English] You think you're achieving the goals
of reducing addicts that you have in your prison?
[in Czech] According to our data,
we can say that out of those
who fully completed the program,
two-thirds never come back.
[in English] Thank you very much for your time.
I appreciate it.
[pensive music playing]
This prison has a huge challenge with the prisoners it holds
who have serious addiction issues,
often to Pervitin, otherwise known as crystal meth.
But I've also seen some positive initiatives
for some of the prisoners who are being offered
some discipline and structure in their lives.
But for the majority of prisoners,
I think more needs to be done.
[pensive music continues]
[music fades]