Salon

There is a Russian saying, which, clumsily translated goes, "Don't imagine you can avoid bag or prison." The bag in question is the baggage of a wandering pauper; prison is, well, prison. Every single period of Russian history has proved the truth of these words, and they should be included in Russia 101 for any foreigner who becomes involved with this country. Tig Hague, whose story is told in the book "Zone 22," learned it the hard way.

A similar story was told by Edmond Pope in his 2001 book "Torpedoed": an American businessman traveling in Russia is arrested, accused of espionage and informed that he belongs "with serious criminals." The characters of interrogators, prison guards and the less-than-enthusiastic attitude of the U.S. Embassy bring to memory the Cold War mentality and the picture of the gulag already well-established in the minds of Western readers. After publication, Pope refused to talk to journalists, thus adding to the intrigue.

Imperial Russia was called "the prison of nations" by Soviet propaganda, and there was much truth in that. Trying to subdue neighboring countries, the government often cracked down on the nationals of those countries living in its own hinterland. It happened many times to the Poles whenever the leading European powers were carving Poland anew. There is a 19th-century anecdote about a group of prisoners going to Siberia and exchanging the details of their crimes -- one's a thief, the other's a murderer, a young man says, "I'm a Pole."

"So young and already a Pole!" marvel his companions.

During the years of Stalin's terror, foreigners were always extremely vulnerable. Many Communist and Socialist leaders, lured by the promise of Soviet life, fled their countries for the USSR. Many of them worked as Soviet citizens for years, sometimes achieving high positions in the hierarchy, but nothing could save them from crackdowns: some were executed, others deported to into the jaws of regimes they had run away from in the first place.

Any problems in relations with the foreigner's host country did not help either. At the height of the terror, in 1937, Stalin wrote a note to the Minster of the Interior, "All Germans ... in all regions, arrest them all." The relations between Stalin and Hitler eased by 1939 when it came to dividing Eastern Europe into areas of influence, but by then it was too late for many people.

The problem has not disappeared. The Federal Bailiff Service, which has the right to prevent a person from leaving Russia if he or she has outstanding debts, has extended these rules from Russian citizens to all residents, including foreign nationals. And as Hague's case proves, the problems of anyone who is arrested in Russia remain formidable.