Reprieve’s EC project team is assisting on the case of Lithuanian national Yuri Kadamovas. Yuri, a talented artist and musician, was sentenced to death in 2007.
He now spends most of his day in what amounts to solitary confinement in a small cell on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana. He is allowed out of his cell just three times a week for ‘recreation’ - in a cage on the prison roof.
Conditions at Terre Haute are harsh; death row prisoners are subjected to the incessant screaming and banging of other prisoners in the unit directly below, resulting in sleep deprivation and psychological and physiological stress. In 2007 one prisoner volunteered for execution, citing “constant bombardment” with “incessant noise and pounding” as a reason for dropping his appeals.
Yuri is extremely isolated and lonely. Death row prisoners are only allowed social visits from those they knew prior to incarceration, but Yuri’s family live in Europe and cannot afford to travel to see him. The only antidote to the grim prison routine is his love of art, so he passes the hours, days and weeks drawing and painting.
Before his arrest Yuri was a musician and played in bands in Lithuania and Russia. Since his incarceration he has been unable to practice music, and so instead has poured all his creative energy into painting and drawing.
Yuri misses the shared creativity that an ensemble of musicians generates, and would love to share his art in the same way. He is hoping to find an artist or a group of artists to collaborate with him on a piece of work. If you are interested in working with Yuri or would like to know more, contact Caroline Morten: caroline@reprieve.org.uk
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