The Ministry of Justice in Russia has developed a new draft law aimed at improving the material and domestic conditions for individuals in penitentiary institutions, according to information from Vedomosti. The proposed legislation would allow the ministry to monitor the standards of clothing and the rules for the use of clothing and footwear for prisoners. The changes would involve amendments to the Criminal Executive Code and the Law on the Detention of Suspects and Accused Persons.
Under Article 99, Paragraph 4 of the Criminal Executive Code, prisoners are required to pay for their own food, clothing, utilities, and personal hygiene items using their salary or pension, excluding special food and clothing. For those who do not work, the expenses are deducted from their personal accounts. The calculation is made monthly. However, the new draft law aims to clarify the procedure for providing assistance to prisoners who do not have sufficient funds.
The authors of the initiative suggest that in cases of insufficient funds in a prisoner's account, the debt can be collected in subsequent months until it is fully paid off. Additionally, the proposed law would ensure that prisoners receive season-appropriate clothing and footwear that correspond to their size and gender. They would also be provided with individual hygiene items such as soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, toilet paper, and disposable razors for men. Special diets and additional nutrition, including milk and vitamins, would also be specified under the definition of "special food" for prisoners working in hazardous conditions.
Alexandra Merkacheva, a representative of the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission, highlighted the issues regarding the provision of footwear, particularly when prisoners are not supplied with appropriate shoes for the season. However, lawyer Alexander Burchuk supports the idea of addressing the footwear issue but opposes deducting the cost from prisoners' salaries and pensions. He emphasized that most pretrial detainees already wear their own clothes and are not provided with clothing by the detention centers.
The Ministry of Justice's initiative follows a recent audit conducted in 2022, which assessed the efficiency of budget allocations for clothing procurement in the penitentiary sector from 2018 to 2020. The proposed changes aim to ensure better conditions and provisions for prisoners in Russia.
