The two men had been arrested under new laws that had been implemented under the recently passed legislation that had been introduced by the all female parliament after the narrow victory of the Ausitanian Democratic Women's Party in the recent election. They found themselves about to be charged at the notorious Prochody jail under the newly enacted Sexual Harassment Act.
Monica Novotny slid open the side door of the black Mercedes police van. Inside, huddled together inside the steel cage the two men were dishevelled and still in a semi drunken state. They had been arrested at the U Kalicha bar in the city centre and Veronika Tomachek, Monica's partner on the van certainly didn't take any nonsense.
At the first sign of the slightest resistance from one of the men the stun gun was drawn from the holster on the leather belt around her waist. Monica saw the look of sheer panic on the man's faces as Veronika raised the gun to chest level and squeezed the trigger. The two steel wires snaked towards him, striking him just above the waist, hitting the soft, vulnerable flesh of his stomach and delivering the high voltage shock. It's effect was instant, paralysing his nerves and putting him down on the floor of the bar.
He lay there for several seconds, his neutralised muscles twitching helplessly, a dribble of foam flecking his lips. Silence descended on the bar as the band of revellers looked on. His petrified friend surrendered himself to the two black clad female officers allowing Monika to lock him into the one piece steel neck and wrist cuff that shackled his arms helplessly behind his back.
Once the tasered man was similarly restrained they were driven out of the city centre directly to Prochody, the two hundred year old grey, forbidding castle that served as the capital's main jail. Since the shock referendum result had given victory to the ADWP the long winded process of booking prisoners in sending them for trial had been considerably streamlined. All that was required now was for the arresting officers to sign a brief statement outlining the details of their offences under the new legislation. In this manner both Petr Horinek and Anton Janacek had their fourteen day custodial sentences confirmed. There was no longer any appeal process and even their relatives were not informed.
In addition to this the officers were allowed, maybe even encouraged, to provide what was euphemistically referred to as "re-education". This granted them a considerable amount of leeway. The lucky prisoners were simply forgotten and whiled away their fourteen day sentence in one of the bare, uncomfortable cells. A simple fold down board provided a basic bed, a coarse grey blanket their only comfort. Their food was an unappetising grey mess of porridge dished out twice a day by the prison kitchen.
Anton Janacek however was not to fall into this lucky category. Veronika Tomasek had suffered abuse from two previous partners as well as during a short failed marriage. As such she was not well disposed towards the more wayward male members of society. She had entered somewhat enthusiastically into the spirit of post referendum Ausitania, the tiny landlocked Central European state that was not quite European, not quite Balkan, occupying just a few hundred square kilometres of mainly forested gently rolling countryside that made it's living largely from tourism and the recently expanded wine industry that utilised the southern uplands that possessed a climate ideal for the purpose.
The state run wine industry was something of an overnight success story. This had largely been due to the drastic reduction in labour costs due to the recently introduced policy of using prisoners in the vineyards. Seven days a week and for ten hours a day working parties toiled in the fields. They performed backbreaking but largely unskilled tasks under the supervision of female guards who had been trained to rule with a rod of iron. Any prisoner stepping out of line quickly found himself harshly dealt with by one of the robust young women overseers. Each vineyard contained a timber whipping frame kept in a prominent position, partly for deterrent effect. The heavy leather straps that hung from the sturdy frame hung loose waiting to bind the limbs of any miscreant who might step out of line. Once bound the supervisor, easily recognised by her uniform of skin tight black leather jeans and laced knee boots would arrive to administer a thrashing with her rattan cane. The sound of the beaten man's cries reverberated around the vineyard as a warning to others. There were no rules, it was just a matter of luck if you got the minimum punishment or fell into the hands of a sadist.
It was the produce of the vineyards that was responsible for most of the trouble at the U Kalicha. The crisp white wine produced by the state vineyards sold in large quantities in the stone carafes for a few Ausitanian shillings for a full litre, one of which was enough to put the average man under the table, or possibly like the two latest prisoners on it, where they had exposed themselves to a party of foreign female tourists.
The two women were filling in their reports on the two arrested men. "Horinek is just a fool" observed Monika. Her partner nodded her agreement.
"Yes, but did you hear that foul mouthed sexist rant from Janacek when we took him out of the van. I have a good mind to up the charge from drunkenness to disrespecting an officer."
Monika smiled as she ticked the box on the form. Increasing the sentence to ninety days was now the simple matter of the stroke of a pen. "Three months in the vineyard for Mister J, do you want to tell him?"
