Thief in Law - The Thieves' Code

The Thieves' Code

Vory consider prisons their true home and have a saying 'The home for angels is heaven and the home for a Vor is prison.' According to Aleksandr Gurov, an expert on the Vory who headed the organized crime units of the Soviet Interior Ministry and the GRU, "unlike the Cosa Nostra the Vory have 'less rules, but more severe rules' members must have no ties to the government, meaning they cannot serve in the army or cooperate with officials while in prison. They must also have served several jail sentences before they can be considered. They also are not allowed to get married."

Furthermore, according to Michael Schwirtz, "ethnicity has rarely determined whether someone can join the club, and today many members, even those active inside Russia, are from other post-Soviet countries such as Armenia, Georgia, or Chechnya, and are not ethnic Russians." While there still are a lot of ethnic Russian vory, many vory are drawn from other ethnic groups from the former Soviet Union: ethnic Russians, Soviet Jews, Georgians, Chechens, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Kyrgyzstanis, Uzbeks, Yezidi Kurds, Abkhazians and Ingushetians.

Under the theoretical code of the vory, a thief must:

• Not have emotions
• Forsake his relatives: father, mother, brothers, sisters. (Varies)
• Not have a family of his own: no marriage, no children; this does not however, preclude him from having an unlimited number of women. *During a large gathering of thieves-in-law during the late 1980s, this rule was removed. (Varies)
• Never, under any circumstances, have a legitimate job or significant property (e.g. a house), no matter how much difficulty this brings; live only on money obtained through gambling or theft (the word 'theft' as used here describes any criminal activity considered 'legitimate' by the Vory), and rely on lower-level criminals for accommodation. For example, harming or molesting children is strongly frowned upon and may endanger a vor's status and could provoke a more brutal retaliation from one's comrades than from the police. A 'thief in law' is a leadership position, so direct participation in arms smuggling and drug trafficking is incompatible with their high status since those crimes are a form of commerce. However receiving tribute from smugglers and drug-dealers or robbing and extorting them is a legitimate activity for a 'thief in law'. (Traditional thieves this apply but modern Vor tend to be in more powerful positions and this rule now, is very uncommon.)
• Help other thieves: both by moral and material support, utilizing the commune of thieves.
• Rule and arbitrate the criminal world and protect basic needs of criminals and prisoners according to the extents and priorities set by the thieves' commune (typically in a given prison/prison cell, or region when not imprisoned)
• Keep secret information about the whereabouts of accomplices (e.g. dens, districts, hideouts, safe apartments, etc.).
• In unavoidable situations (if a thief is under investigation or is arrested) to take the blame for someone else's crime; this buys the other person time to escape and remain free.
• Demand an inquiry and judgment by a council of thieves to resolve disputes in the event of a conflict between oneself and other thieves, or between thieves.
• If necessary, participate in such inquiries if called upon.
• Punish any offending thief as decided by the judgment of the thieves council.
• Not resist carrying out the decision of punishing the offending thief who is found guilty, with punishment determined by the thieves council.
• Have good command of the thieves' slang (called "Fenya"), a distinct language spoken by hardcore criminals in Russia and understood by few outsiders.
• Never gamble without being able to cover losses.
• Teach the criminal way of life to youth with potential.
• Have, if possible, informants from the rank and file of thieves.
• Not to lose your reasoning abilities when drunk.
• Have nothing to do with the authorities (particularly with the ITU, Correctional Labor Authority), not participate in public activities, nor join any community organizations. (This rule came from during the years of Soviet oppression and rarely applies now)
• Not serve in the military or accept any weapons from the government or prison authority (police baton). (Again this rule is traditional and rarely applies day, in fact, Vor control the black market, which is discharged Soviet weapons)
• Make good on promises given to other thieves.
• Never deny his Vor status directly. To the questions like 'Are you a Vor?' or 'Who are you for life?', a vor should always answer: "Yes (I am a vor)", even if asked by police and videotaped. The latter question phrase is ritual and video footage containing the answer is commonly used by the Russian militsiya to illustrate vory arrests in the media. (Not common in post-Soviet times)

The above code is no longer in use besides the standard prison code of ethics of not cooperating with prison authorities or informing on your fellow inmates. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, author of The Gulag Archipelago, claimed never to have seen any thief honor the code if it conflicted with his personal criminal wants.