Vragen aan Harry Bout

#1  How is life in prison?
Very stresfull; under constant pressure.

#2  Are there gangs?
Yes, several gangs. You never know who could be a member of which gang so I have to keep to myself, never talking with anyone. If I talk with someone, and that person is connected to one of the gangs, I could be  stabbed or killed attacked by gang people just for my association with that person. You either have to be part of a gang or you have to remain totally on your own. That is the way of prison life, and I will never be part of any gang, because if you become part of a gang then you have to do whatever the gangmembers do, like stealing, robbing, beating people up, dealing in drugs or other illegal activities, stabbing people, even killing people if the higher-ups in the gang make the decision and you just have to do it or be killed yourself for being a traitor.

#3  What am I doing all day long?
I mostly sit or lay on my bed and watch my TV; I usually try to walk the track each day for at least 2 miles; I am also trying to run or jog for at least 1 mile when the weather is good for it, and I feel secure enough to leave my bed area for any period of time. I really have to maintain my presence around my bed area to safeguard my TV and typewriter or whatever else from being stolen.

#4  What time do I eat and what do I eat?
I never go to the breakfast meal; I have seen so many stabbings while in prison these past 24 years, and most of them occured early in the morning on the way to breakfast, so going to breakfast is something I never do no matter what anyone tells me. It’s just something I don’t do, so I stay on my bed watching the news or whatever until lunchtime, which starts about 11.30 AM. The evening meal starts about 4.30 PM. As for what I eat, well, that’s hard to say because the prison cooks never go by the menu. If you pay  the prisoner cook $10 per month then you can eat good, but if you don’t pay, then you will go hungry, and if you dare complain about it to the guards or file a grievance then you could be stabbed for being a snitch or rat, because getting prisoners to pay is one of the cooks hustles to make money. They always make sure their gang members get what they want, stealing food out of the chow hall or whatever, and they have different gang members working in the kitchen so they look out for each other. It’s actually extortion to pay the prisoner  cooks, but it’s just another part of life in prison.

#5  Am I getting any visits?
The last visit I had was with my sister on January 25th, 2009. She has not been here since. The Consulate General came to visit me December 1st, 2008. I have no idea when I will get another visit.

#6  Am I scared?
Well, yes, I live under fearful circumstances; I live in prison sytem filled with murderers, robbers, rapists, people with assaultive propensities. I have to always be aware of the prisoners around me. I live in a wide open level 2 security pole-barn prison. The lower the security level the less guard supervision there is and so the prisoners pretty much can do whatever they want without supervision. A pole-barn is a big one level dormitory type building. Each dormitory is called a housing unit. There are 140 prisoners in each housing unit, with bunkbeds. The housing unit is divided in half by a partition so there are 35 bunkbeds for 70 prisoners on eachside, and the guard desk is at the front side of the housing unit where the guard stays at his desk. The guard can’t see what goes on in the housing unit from the desk, and whenever the guard does make his round through the housing unit the prisoners have their lookout people to let everyone know when the guard is coming. The prisoners also regularly jump over the housing unit partition to do whatever they do and then jump back over to act like they did nothing wrong. It’s just prison life.
Nothing special to write about.

#7  What are my fears and frustrations and how do I feel?
That I will never get out of this living nightmare, and continue to grow older here until I am dead. My frustrations are too many to list because of this prison systems environment, but my biggest frustration is my helplessness to anything about my situation, and it seems the politicians,  Buitenlandse Zaken and Justitie really accomplish nothing but allowing years to pass by, and then every 4 years they move on to their new assignments and are replaced by new people who start the process all over again accomplishing nothing until its time for them to move on to their new assignments. Meanwhile 24 years of my life have already passed me by rotting in this human cesspool of a prison system for a crime I didn’t even commit. How frustrating can that be for any person?

As for how I feel, i feel such a despair there can be no  human words to describe it. My life has literally been taken from me like a helpless kidnap victim, and the people who are supposed to protect me from this kind of horror, ( the police, prosecutors, and judges) they are the ones who have abused their official positions to commit this horrible unthinkable crime against me, while they claok themselves with the officialdom of justice to shield themselves from being exposed for the horrible crime they’ve actually done to me, while keeping me totally helpless to expose what they’ve done. And then to put the icing on the cake Peter R. de Vries comes along, leading me to believe he will help to expose these criminals, and instead he reiterates and perpetuates the lies and deception of those who have done this to me, while making me appear to be the bad guy.How do I feel? I feel so much sorrow like all the air has been taken from my lungs so I can’t breathe anymore. I feel so betrayed by that Peter R. de Vries that all I want to do is expose him for the liar that he is even if it  doesn’t accomplish anything to get me out of this pit, I just want to expose how he abused his public trust by deceiving the Dutch public just to gain favor with the peolpe who did this to me. As far as I’m concerned  Peter R. de Vries is just as much a criminal as the detectives, prosecutor, and Judge who knowingly framed me of this crime, to rob of my life, while allowing the American girl who did commit this crime to walk off free. How do I feel about this? Angry beyond what words can say. Betrayed by those who could help me, but choose not to expose what these criminals have done and to just join with those who have done this to me. Despair beyond comprehension, because I sit here already 24 years helpless to do anything to expose what they’ve done to me so I can get my life back. Despair because I will probably grow old and die in this pit of living hell and the truth of my innocence in the crime may never be known as time passes by. The  more time that passes the greater the chances that the truth will never come out. After 24 years already past, I fear that I am doomed to die here. I can well imagine what Jesus must have felt emotionally when he cried out to God from the cross, why have you forsaken me. I have cried out to God like this so many times, but I am still here in this pit, this living nightmare that I cannot awaken from. My only temporary escape is to sleep, but when I wake-up,  I wake-up back into this continuing living nightmare, which is real! There is no escape from this horror.

Am I afraid ? Yeah, I’m afraid that thanks to Peter R. de Vries no one will care about what’s really happened to me, because they don’t know the truth. They only know the clever deceptive lies that were told and lead to believe. If not enough people care about whats really happened to me, the  politicians will not care, and if the politicians don’t care, then the government will do nothing to help get my life back and I will be doomed to grow old and die in this pit. Yes, I am afraid. I am terrified of this, because I would rather be asleep, and dead, then to continue awakening into this living nightmare of hopelessness. Maybe my words are unpleasant and shoking, but I have to be honest and speak from my heart. I cannot pretend that all is well, when all is not well, and I’m suffering under the most horrible of circumstances being imprisoned in this horrible place for 24 years already, and for something I didn’t even do. Can you or anyone even imigane this happening to you or someone you love or care about?

May 2009

Harry Bout # 180741
Ionia Maximum Correctional Facility
1576 W. Bluewater Highway
Ionia, Michigan 48846
U.S.A.