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You don’t get locked up on charges of kidnapping and attempted murder if you’re a wonderful human being, so I am finding it hard to muster up much pity for Czech mobster Radovan Krejcir.

He’s currently serving 35 years behind bars in the Leeuwkop maximum security prison, and he’s not at all happy about the conditions of his detention.

Krejcir has been complaining to the Hawks about his treatment, going as far as to say that he believes the authorities are trying to kill him, or trying to make him kill himself.

Huff Post SA with more:

He has reportedly complained that his prison cell is too small, his computer equipment has been confiscated, he is not allowed to Skype with his deported family, the mattress he has is bad for his back, and he does not like the “African” food being served.

African food in Africa – the bloody horror.

Listen, pal, this isn’t Norway.

Krejcir approached the court in April to address his concerns, writing a letter, but the case was struck off the urgent roll.

Some of what he wrote below:

“Despite being eastern European, I have been forced to eat food that is always cold and usually reserved for an African diet … the authorities do not wish to entertain the possibility of providing me with an appropriate diet as they rather watch me suffer.

“I have been deprived of adequate medical attention for numerous health issues that I have, including conditions relating to my respiratory system, reproductive system, undiagnosed lumps on my skin …”

Maybe he’s just missing Oscar?

Look, enshrined in our Constitution is the right to basic human dignity, and anyone who has ever heard about what goes on at Pollsmoor knows that our prisons are a mess.

Then there are the United Nations minimum standards for prisoner treatment which, according to Times LIVE, Krejcir is well versed in:

Krejcir alleges his cell is 3.9 square metres, below the international minimum of 5.5 square metres.

“I am kept like an animal … no human deserves to be kept in a cage.”

Krejcir told Times Select the prison’s authorities had turned the prison into a concentration camp.

“Kokstad maximum security prison, where I was previously held, is like a holiday camp compared to here.

“I’m physically and mentally tortured. Staff ignore my requests for access to my lawyers and doctor. Raids on my cell are designed to stop me from preparing for my upcoming cases.”

Not that he would get much respite if he returned to the Czech Republic:

Meanwhile, Krejcir was sentenced to 15 years in jail in his home country, in March….Krejcir was convicted of plotting to kill a customs official and stripping the assets of a state-owned oil company. He reportedly committed these crimes before fleeing the Czech Republic in 2005.

Criminals deserve to be treated like humans, with a degree of basic decency thrown into the mix, but complaining about not having your preferred diet catered to won’t win you many friends.

[sources:huffpost&timeslive]