Vladimir Matskevich
Vladimir Matskevich is a philosopher, methodologist, and socio-political activist, and the founder of the Flying University. On August 4, 2021, he was detained after a search of his home as part of a criminal case and was accused of “organizing actions that grossly violate public order.” On September 11, 2025, it became known that he had been taken to Lithuania.
Prison is not a place for a human being, even one who has erred. The prison system was invented to correct evil, to isolate criminals, but it itself becomes evil. It does not reform anyone. There, a traumatized community develops with distorted principles and norms. These norms become habitual; those released from prison carry them into normal society and infect it with evil. Modern civilization has matured to the point of abolishing the prison system, just as it once abolished the death penalty. A prison cannot be improved by creating comfortable conditions. Modern technical means allow monitoring those who have erred and those sentenced, while keeping them in normal society, without isolation. Isolation is acceptable for maniacs. In all other cases, prisons should be closed.
