text on the bearers right arm reads: ‘the court only deprived me of freedom, but nobody deprived me of human feelings. and the years go by, and my temples have gone grey, and my youth has been damaged.’ the bell tolls [meaning he is serving his time ‘to the bell’ – the full sentence with no remission]. the manacle on the wrist indicates a prison term of more than five years (if they tattooed on both wrists, more than ten years). if the manacle is ‘broken’ it means the prisoner is an escapee. text on the bearers left arm reads: ‘comrades, think of me every now and then. when the law sentenced me, in desolate camps of the taiga, I lived under the name of ‘prisoner’.’
