Open letter from Konstantin Rudnev from Rawson maximum security prison
Abraham is reading the newspaper. His neighbor approaches him and says:
—Abraham, your house is on fire!
And he, without looking up from the pages, replies:
—Whatdo you mean it caught fire?It's not in the newspaper.
The headlines and the soul
We don't believe our eyes, but headlines. Not the heart, but the words of others. We live in newspapers instead of living in the soul.
I have been judged for many years —not by people, but by paper. They didn't listen to me, they printed me. They didn't know me, but they quoted me. They didn't see me, but they condemned me.
I have been behind bars in Rawson for seven months. Without charge. Without trial. And every day I read about myself. As if I were reading about some monster I have never met. Except that monster bears my name.
The power of words
A newspaper can be a whip.
A word can be a torture chamber.
However, I hold no grudges. Because I have understood that those who write evil things about me do not know what they are doing. They were never close to me. They did not hear how I spoke of love. They did not see how I taught people to be kinder to one another.
They are simply obeying an order: they were told to do it, and they put it in writing. When trolls are paid to tell the truth, lying becomes a profession.
When "public opinion" is shaped by comment factories, honesty becomes heresy.
But the truth cannot be bought. It can only be lived.
See for yourself
I don't ask anyone to believe in me, what I ask is that you see for yourselves. Don't read about me, just remember how you felt when you looked into my eyes.
When you heard my words, when you felt that energy of kindness that I always tried to convey.
Everything I did was out of love.
I just wanted people to stop being afraid to be kind.
But faith, compassion, and light —they are not a religion. They are the breath of life.
Without them, human beings become commenters under someone else's article.
Believe in miracles
While some believe in newspapers, others believe in miracles.
And I remain among those who believe.
Yes, they can imprison me.
They can distort every word I say.
They can write a thousand disgusting headlines about me or produce hundreds of fake talk shows.
But they cannot take away my ability to see people as luminous beings.
I still believe that goodness is stronger than fear.
That human beings are capable of thinking for themselves, even when everyone around them repeats the opposite.
We believe in miracles, not in filth or the press.
The forgotten innocents
I see it every day. Sitting next to me are not monsters, but ordinary people.
Those who made mistakes.
Those who trusted the wrong people.
Those who had no one to defend them.
Within these walls, not only are bones broken, but lives are also shattered.
When a person enters prison, it is as if their name, voice, and light are taken away from them.
They are turned into a number. A statistic. They cease to be a human being.
The School of Darkness
However, the most terrible thing is that prison does not destroy evil, it breeds it.
It teaches you to lie in order to survive.
It teaches you to hate so as not to lose your mind.
It teaches violence, because here the weak are not forgiven. It is not a place of correction, it is a school of despair. A school of pain.
A school of darkness.
And when an innocent person arrives here, they sink into this swamp, and if they don't drown, they are forever left with a
Prison and the soul
And yet... when I open my eyes, I see the walls.
Thick, gray, and cold.
Then I think about how easy it would be for the world to talk about kindness, and how difficult it is to remain kind when you live among concrete and bars.
Prison is not a test of the body, but of the soul.
A test of faith, compassion, and humanity.
"Prison"...
A short word, but infinite pain.
Legalized evil
In the past, prisons were invented to limit evil. To protect society.
But, over time, they became evil themselves. A silent, systematic, and legalized place.
Now it is not the dangerous who are locked up, but those who get in the way.
Not criminals, but those who are inconvenient.
Not murderers, but those who are too honest, those who cannot keep quiet.
A scar on the soul.
I look into the eyes of these people and I don't see hatred, only exhaustion.
This is how those who have understood that the system doesn't care whether you are guilty or not look.
Shared pain
But it is not only those behind bars who suffer.
Their loved ones suffer too. Every day in prison kills them a little more.
The wife waits, not knowing if her beloved is still alive. The mother prays, falling asleep in tears. The children grow up without a father, learning to write letters to a place where freedom does not exist.
Prison punishes everyone.
Prison is a wound on the body of humanity. It is a relic of the past, a gross error of evolution.
The path of light
Human beings can only be corrected with love, care, and light
Not with fear, violence, and loneliness. If instead of walls there were hugs.
If instead of guards there were loved ones.
If instead of bars there were the eyes of those who still have faith in you.
Then everyone, even the most lost, could change.
That is why I believe that, someday, prisons will disappear.
They will be replaced by another path—the path of understanding, of compassion, the path to the soul, not to punishment. Because you cannot correct a person by taking away their love.
Konstantin Rudnev.
From the maximum security prison, city of Rawson
If you would like to hear the opinions of Konstantin's family members or ask them a question, please write to us. We are open to dialogue and comments.
His health is deteriorating while injustice continues to prevail.
But you can make a difference.
Your support can help Konstantin regain his freedom and return to his family.
