Inmates from the same colony have the right to correspond with each other. Such a decision was taken by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The college considered the complaint of one of the prisoners who is serving a life sentence in the Khabarovsk region. He corresponded with another prisoner from the same colony for eight months. However, the administration of the institution has prohibited correspondence. The colony referred to the instruction prohibiting inspectors from allowing contact between convicts from different cells.
The ruling of the RF Armed Forces emphasizes that there is no prohibition on such correspondence in Russian law. The colony administration may effectively prohibit detainees from texting, but this decision must be reasoned.
The Supreme Court noted that in this case, the establishment prison had no evidence that correspondence should have been prohibited in order to ensure security and prevent possible plannings of new crimes.
Previously, the Russian Ministry of Justice proposed to allow prisoners to use the internet, but with restrictions. Thus, it is planned to give convicts access to the network to use legal systems, official websites of courts and state authorities.