The truck carrying Piseth arrived at Battambang Provincial Prison along with a convoy of reporters and other provincial officials. Piseth was immediately led off the truck with his head covered with a towel and both hands and legs cuffs shackled in chain.
Reality set in for Piseth. He has come to the realization that he was ACTUALLY in Prison. Piseth also knew that he must learn to cope with his new environment until Lundi, his best friend and family can come up with some sort of strategies to secure his release.
Piseth never lost hope because he knew that he still have time and resources to fight in the court with the help of Lundi and his family. The bad news was that the accused can be detained in the Provincial Prison up to six months until the court decides his fate.
Piseth was told to strip off his old clothes and replace them with the prison uniform . From here onwards, Piseth knew that he was no longer a free man.
Piseth was led to his prison cell by three armed guards.
Piseth’s body ached from the beating at the interrogation. He could barely swallow because his face was swollen beyond recognition.
Piseth was hungry and thirsty because he had not been fed or given food for more than 30 hours. Piseth was under excruciating pain and mental agitation. Piseth began to hallucinate about the ordeal.
As Piseth sat in the cell contemplating about his future, he began to hear voices echoing the hallway that it was time to turn off the light.
Inside the prison cell which was approximately 2.5meters by 2.5meters separated from other prison cell by vertical steel bars. And it was a house to six other inmates. In the cell, it contained one toilet and 5 gallons of water, no bed, pillow nor mat. The 6 inmates must learn to co-exist and share water and toilet together.
The inmates must use the 5 gallons of water for their toilet, for drinking and other washing purposes. The floor was extremely dirty and infested by ants, cocoroaches and other insects due to the filths that were piling in the four corners. The odor from the feces and urine was extremely strong that a new comer like Piseth found it most tormenting and unbearable.
Due to the extreme exhaustion from the lack of food, water and beating; Piseth passed out on a pile of rubbish in the corner of the cell without pillow nor blanket. Piseth had apparently curled into a ball and was dead asleep.
At about 2am in the morning, Piseth woke up to a pillow strapped on his head. He could barely breath. At first, Piseth thought it was a nightmare, but he could not believe that he was being attacked by his fellow inmates as part of the initiation rite (breaking you down). Piseth was repeatedly beaten and choked to near death for nearly an hour whilst the crowd cheered on. Piseth could barely see anybody because his head was covered with pillow and continuously getting kicked on his ribs, legs and hands.
Piseth screamed for help but he knew that his voice was not heard. The ordeal lasted for more than two hours. Finally, the men that beat Piseth decided that it was enough, Piseth was left a broken man. From this night onwards Piseth will succumb to their rules and do whatever he was told.
It was 6am in the morning when Piseth finally awaken. His whole body and head were still in terrible pain. Piseth tried to get up but he stumbled and felt four times before he could stand up and slowly move himself. Piseth began to have flash backs on the terrible memories under the Khmer Rouge regime when he was caught and was punished for stealing a yam stick. Piseth could recall the day when he was tied under a tree packed with red ants and left to die as a result of his hunger for a single yam stick.
The thought of death lingered in Piseth’s mind and the question of why he came back to his homeland after years escaping death and oppression infuriated his soul. What did he do to deserve this again? Was it Karma or was it fate that brought him back?
Piseth stumbled and felt to the floor crying profusely.
The bell rang, a loud speaker came on and instructed all inmates to leave the compound and line up for morning labor. Every inmate scrambled to get outside because any inmate found inside after 10 minutes expired will be faced with extreme punishment. For Piseth, he was too weak to get up but he knew the consequences if he could not make it outside in time. Piseth crawled using one leg and hands clinging to the steel bars of the prison cell and was able to make it outside just in time before the 10 minutes deadline.
While outside, Piseth forced himself to get up despite the pain and injuries.
Piseth was given a broom to clean about 50 meters in an area of the prison compound with 4 other men. Fortunately, the other four inmates were foreigners, 2 Thais, 1 Malaysian and 1 Vietnamese all convicted on drug offenses. Most of the foreigners spoke English and were able to relate to Piseth’s condition. They share his pain because all of them had gone through the same ordeal when they first got to the prison. The four other inmates did not want Piseth to work because they knew that Piseth was too weak to do anything and needed time to rest.
In a team effort, the group was responsible and must ensure that the areas assigned were cleaned according to the instructions dictated by the prison guards. Piseth had time to recuperate by sitting under a tree and trying to take in the fresh air next to the pond. Piseth also knew that he could not allow this temptation of being free from hard labor to go on very long. So he decided to help pick up rubbish and tree branches and stuff them into a bag.
It was 11:45am morning, the loud speaker came on again telling all inmates to wrap things up and get ready for lunch.
By this time Piseth was already in his 48th hour without food but only water. The thought of foods brought immediate hunger to Piseth. His stomach growled and sharp pain began to race up and down his spine and sent shock waves to his brain as a result of excessive acid in his stomach.
After lunch, Piseth was approached by a prison guard and told that he had guests waiting outside.
A prison guard immediately escorted Piseth to the front of prison. At the waiting room were a US consulate officer and an interpreter sent by the US Embassy in Phnom Penh. The task of US consulate officer and the interpreter was to ensure that Piseth gets the necessary information regarding his rights to an attorney, rights to a trial, and an assurance as a US citizen Piseth will be looked after.
Piseth was greeted warmly by the US Consulate officer. It has been nearly 51 hours since his arrest that Piseth was finally able to meet somebody so that he can tell them his pain. Piseth did not have to hide from the officer and the interpreter. He told both of them the actual truth of what had happened. The US consulate officer and the interpreter seemed to take notes on all of the complaints made against the Cambodian authorities about the harsh treatment that he had endured. The officer and interpreter promised that they will do everything they can in their power to ensure that American citizens such as Piseth will be fairly treated while under custody.
The officer handed a piece of paper to Piseth, on it contained a list of different lawyers who were willing to represent American citizens on a pro-bono basis or at an affordable price.
The American officer and his interpreter left Piseth after no more than 1 hour meeting; yet their visit was meaningful and very reassuring for Piseth. Piseth was unusually happy for at least the American Embassy knew about him and his case. Furthermore, Piseth felt a sense of hope and his fear subsided because he knew that he will be protected by the by American government from further abuses.
After the meeting with the US Consulate officer; Piseth was escorted back to his cell. Along the way, the prison guard snatched the paper that was given by the US Consulate and tore it into pieces; then made a mockery remarks by saying “This is not America, even George Bush cannot help you..” Piseth was shaken by the remarks because he knew these prison guards meant business.
When Piseth got to the main hallway of the prison leading up to his cell, there await a Giant. Robi was known to all of the inmates as the “Big Brother”. Robi was serving 40 years on numerous robberies and murders of 2 jewelry store owners in Kampong Cham Province. Robi was notorious for his violent behaviors on other inmates and also known as the Collector appointed by the Prison Authorities.
Piseth never knew these kinds of gang activities existed in Cambodia’s prison because he had only seen them in American movies .
Robi was respected by all of the inmates. For Piseth, Robi was just a little guy about half of his size. As expected, Robi made remarks to Piseth while he was passing the hallway; “Here come the Pork.” It literally meant that Piseth was a “Commodity” and meant that Piseth could be “Extorted” for much cash because by this time they had been informed that Piseth was well to do Cambodian-American and had lands and properties.
This particular prison, size did not matter because it was whose ever was chosen secretly by the corrupted prison guards that was important. There were no rival gangs in Battambang Provincial Prison because tactics used by these so called “Big Brothers” were so effective that no inmate dare to form a rival gang. The tactic of breaking an inmate as early as his first hour in prison so that he completely loose his self confident became an effective tool employed. Other tactics such as punishment for talking and extreme violence and torture used upon those who dare to challenge the gang’s ways of doing thing were routinely practices so that no inmate dare to fight back. As a result, everybody becomes very submissive and scared. These were also strategies most welcome by the prison authorities to try and keep all inmates in check. The “Big Brother” like Robi was left to roam free with the privilege to go out at night outside of the prison wall to karaoke bar and club as long as he kept things cleaned and bring in the money (by ways of extortions from fellow inmates) for the Prison Authorities..
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