Tsjempieon nomer adjien

A group of criminals consisting of 19 people was arrested in Alma-Ata in 1985; they had committed 82 crimes in 32 years but their victims had never reported any crime. The reason is that the victims were people who were living on "black" money themselves. The criminals committed fraud by donning police uniforms and by using police cars. Their leader was Viacheslav Chivanin who had already been convicted three times. He refused to have an attorney in court and defended himself. He turned from defendant to prosecutor of the social system. He received a ten year sentence. With a tremendous amount of energy he managed to organize the first prison cooperative. As a result, the prisoners got much better food and a higher salary than their own guards. The discipline also improved and many inmates wanted to be active in the cooperative. However, it was shut down and Chivanin was set free after three years. Chivanin also practised sports in prison and after his release he became twice the armwrestling champion of the U.S.S.R. He is clearly a representative of the people who are now striving to enrich themselves by doing business in the CIS, and who are in control of its economy. People like Chivanin are smooth talkers who have the ability to make others believe in ideals they did not believe in before. For the bourgeoisie of the CIS, Chivanin has just the status of an artist, and that still occupies the lowest position in social hierarchy.