Forgotten People

For over 18 months, four experts at the hospital in Belgrade’s central prison (psychologists Slobodan Ilic and Milan Kostic, social worker Milka Babic and neuropsychiatrist Arsenije Zivkovic) have been trying to warn the public and the authorities of the tragic situation facing mental patients among the prisoners in the prison asylum. The 255 mental patients in the hospital were put there after committing serious crimes by courts which assessed that they are dangerous to their environment and could stay there for life under existing laws. Over the years they become non-existent, ignored by their families and society and even left out of the annual prison statistics. They include some who have been in the asylum for over 20 years. Their average age is 45-50.

"We can’t take any more of this scandalous story. We treat those people and feel a moral duty to help them. Incarcerating a man for an unlimited period because of alleged danger to the people around him is senseless. If that were true we would all have to be imprisoned because no one can guarantee that anyone won’t commit murder tomorrow or the next day, sick or well. This is a case of something else: people are kept imprisoned for years due to social reasons and carelessness," Slobodan Ilic told VREME.

Twice a year, experts at the prison hospital send a report to the courts suggesting patients should be set free under control for treatment in another institution. They wait a long time for replies and when they do come they’re mainly negative. The court’s reply most often boils down to a conclusion that the mental state of the inmate has characteristics of stability but the social services center, which the court also asked for an opinion, feels the needed conditions don’t exist.

Milka Babic authored a report on the inmates at the prison hospital and she says no one wants these people. Most of them are from the lower classes of society, from unstable families, most of them never get visits from their families. The court does not meet its duty to look into their cases twice a year and social institutions (a total of 13) simply don’t want them.

The prison hospital is story unto itself. It’s the only institution of that kind in the country and has existed for 27 years under the patronage of the justice ministry. The authorities rarely look into what’s happening there. VREME was told that the first minister to ever visit the hospital was Arandjel Markicevic, the current justice minister. "He wanted to know what we did and was astonished by legal contradictions and our problems. He lent support to what we’re doing and promised to help," Ilic said.

The hospital staff want the institution to come under the patronage of two ministries: justice and health. They also want it to become an institution which will provide expert opinions and health care for inmates. They said their most important demand is to limit the proscribed measure of imprisonment for treatment to five years. They also criticized the system of providing expert opinions and the people who gave those opinions saying they included some who never worked at the prison hospital.

They said they met fierce opposition. In the hospital and outside it. They were told not to get into political issues. Other experts are keeping quiet in fear.

The total number of crimes committed in the country includes a very small number committed by the mentally ill (3-4%). The percentage of those who commit a second crime is even lower (0.7%). For years, 66% of the so-called mentally healthy people who commit crimes go back to jail. Experts said those people can’t be helped and no one says they’re dangerous to their environment. All mental patients show some degree of fear. The belief that the mentally ill are monsters dominates this region. It is present in the courts as well which use medical facilities to get rid of the problem. Ilic warned of another paradox: "When the court decides that someone is mentally ill it hears a psychologist or psychiatrist. When those same people suggest the inmate should be released from the prison hospital it rejects their opinion. To the courts those people do not exist after 10-15 years. When a judge does decide to release someone into the custody of the family or another institution, the decision is based on paperwork. They never see the man they sent to prison. We just send them a form saying the treatment is complete. The judges accept it or don’t. There’s another approach under existing laws: treatment and isolation is unlimited. Once the patient is released he can only be under control for two years. After that no one controls the mentally ill."

The four people at the prison hospital who want to refresh society’s memory and remind it of the imprisoned mental patients are relying on their years of experience. For now the only person who showed some understanding is minister Markicevic.

The Patients

The 255 inmates at the prison hospital include 2.35% who have been there for 20 years, 1.56% over 20 years, 4.31% about 15 years, 15.68% for 10 years and 76.07% for five years. Most of them (72%) got their for inflicting bodily harm and the rest (28%) for crimes against a person’s dignity.

twenty percent of the inmates are illiterate, 29% completed elementary school, 35% graduated from high school, 2% went to university. Most of them are from lower social classes. Over 35% never see their families and 56% of the families don’t want them back.

An average of 10 inmates are released every year to the custody of their families or institutions.