Tig Hague back in South Woodford with wife Lucy and daughter Isabella
A CITY worker who was locked up in a Russian slave-labour camp for two years has revealed the shocking details of his imprisonment.
Toby 'Tig' Hague, of Maybank Road in South Woodford, was sent to the notorious Zone 22 "Gulag" prison in the remote icy wastes of Mordovia, after he was caught at Moscow airport carrying less than a twentieth of an ounce of cannabis.
Mr Hague, a family man, was on his way to meet a business client after attending a stag party the night before.
But he had forgotten about the small quantity of the drug in his back pocket, which would have earned him no more than a reprimand in the UK.
To his eternal regret, he was unaware of Russia's widespread culture of bribery, and failed to understand when a border guard demanded money from him.
As a result, he was framed by airport staff as a drug dealer.
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After a swift trial at which his lawyer was not allowed to speak, he was sentenced to five years in the "forgotten" jail, one of Stalin's network of labour camps. Many prisoners languish there for years, ignored by the Russian legal system due to its remote location and low priority in the judicial system.
Mr Hague said: "It was like living in a frozen hell. You just can't imagine that people could live in severe conditions like that.
"In fact, many didn't. A lot of people died while I was there."
He slept in a freezing, cramped dormitory with 100 other men, alongside murderers and paedophiles, many with severe mental problems, and was forced to spend his days work in the prison's sewing factory, earning just 3p a month - a severe pay cut from his £35,000 city job.
"The only thing that kept me going was the thought of my girlfriend and getting out," he said.
Mr Hague and his partner Lucy had been planning on buying a house together before he was locked away.
But after the shock of his imprisonment, the couple were distraught to learn Lucy could only visit twice a year.
However, his resourceful partner discovered that if the pair were married she would be allowed at least four visits a year and within months the couple had wed in the grim surroundings of the camp.
It was hardly a dream wedding - a prison guard drank the wine Lucy had brought, but their love managed to sustain Mr Hague through the tough Russian winter, while others perished around him.
"I've only just stopped having nightmares about it. I used to dream about guards coming to get me in the night."
Eventually, after months of appeals and bribes, Mr Hague was granted parole.
And he has decided to make his story public as a stark warning to other travellers. A book of his account, Zone 22', was also published today.
Posted by: me Khalid, walthamstow on 2:57pm Thu 1 May 08
i is plesed he go to the prisons cold golags and they trow key in the sea becose he thinking the contry likeded th e uk and he do what like? no if the parson get the cached by the policemens rusias he get the very good punshmants and they meybe put he in the prisons for the long time and meybe hang by necks to kill he and this we ned in the uk for all the parsons bad pepal with the drugdrinking
i is plesed he go to the prisons cold golags and they trow key in the sea becose he thinking the contry likeded th e uk and he do what like? no if the parson get the cached by the policemens rusias he get the very good punshmants and they meybe put he in the prisons for the long time and meybe hang by necks to kill he and this we ned in the uk for all the parsons bad pepal with the drugdrinking
Posted by: mary ellen kelly, michigan usa on 12:56am Fri 2 May 08
I'm glad to learn you're back in the UK. The old Russia seems alive and well, but you learned in a very hard way how careful one must be when travelling abroad. I've always wanted to go to Russia to see where part of my family came from (Jews from presenyt day Belarus), but stories like yours are discouraging. Take care of yourselve and your family! Cheers, Mary
I'm glad to learn you're back in the UK. The old Russia seems alive and well, but you learned in a very hard way how careful one must be when travelling abroad. I've always wanted to go to Russia to see where part of my family came from (Jews from presenyt day Belarus), but stories like yours are discouraging. Take care of yourselve and your family! Cheers, Mary
Posted by: Martin, Walthamstow on 5:33pm Mon 5 May 08
"Moron carrying drugs into another country wets the bed when he comes a cropper."
Maybe "Tig" should rent Midnight Express before he tries any more such capers.
"Moron carrying drugs into another country wets the bed when he comes a cropper."
Maybe "Tig" should rent Midnight Express before he tries any more such capers.
Posted by: Mr Longjohns, Wanstead on 11:24am Thu 8 May 08
Yes when his son grows up he can explain that he missed the most important times with his kid because he was high on drugs the idiot, makes me sick why you are even giving him the air space
Yes when his son grows up he can explain that he missed the most important times with his kid because he was high on drugs the idiot, makes me sick why you are even giving him the air space
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