“There’s not enough Coca-Cola and tangerines”

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Alexey Polikhovich The person involved in the Bolotnaya case. In February 2014, he was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison (he has been in a pre-trial detention center since July 2012). On October 30, 2015, he was released from penal colony No. 6 in the Ryazan region.

The simple answer to the question of how to cheer up a prisoner is release. But, unfortunately, you can not mail the release. I always advise sending to colonies where people are already serving their sentences and walking in dark robes, like black bugs, and the world around them is full of black and gray colors, bright postcards, photographs and drawings. Probably, it is worth talking not about some banal postcards with Christmas trees, but about something unusual. For example, I liked it when I received postcards from other countries - it reminds you that the world is wide. You are sitting in a colony, you cannot get out and go somewhere, you are locked up, your life is banal and predictable. And when you receive such a message, you understand that you are remembered. Yes, a person may be somewhere on vacation, maybe he wanted to take a break from all this gloomy Russian agenda, but he remembered you. Why postcard? Because it's much easier than a letter: you don't have to sit down and think of something, just write two sentences and send it.

Prisoners and employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service begin to treat you differently when you receive a lot of messages, postcards, letters, and especially when you receive messages from abroad. It causes not that any respect, but interest. I remember the uncomplicated joy of the head of my detachment when he handed me a postcard from India. It featured two conventional Tibetan boy monks, but the card itself was not from Tibet, but from India. He was delighted, but it was also hard for him. The convicts keep saying: “We are in prison until the end of our term, while the FSI officers work here until they retire.”

Of course, it can be said that the prisoner does not have enough Coca-Cola or tangerines, something sweet or nutritious in the colony for the New Year, because there are difficulties with the transfers. Not everyone has relatives who can come and give something to the colony, someone only has an elderly mother, a thousand kilometers from the zone. Therefore, such everyday things, of course, are also important, and in a sense they create a festive mood.

In the pre-trial detention center on New Year's Eve, everyone does what they can: someone makes figurines of the symbols of the year according to the Chinese calendar out of paper, someone also figurines, but from dough. They give each other something. What can you give in prison? A pack of expensive cigarettes, for example, instead of a pack of "Java" - "Parliament". Ask a lawyer for some good pen or felt-tip pen.

And in the colony there is already a more organized community, and everything is like in a pioneer camp, a school or a hostel: they collect money to set up some tables with tangerines and Coca-Cola. They agree with the employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service that they do not particularly gesture on this day, but they probably don’t need it too much either. If you can call your wife and parents on a mobile phone banned in the zone on a normal day, then on New Year's Day, maybe ten people can get through.

Oleg Navalny In December 2014, he was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in the Yves Rocher case. On June 29, 2018, he was released from penal colony No. 5 in the Oryol region.

What would I like to get for the New Year when I was in prison? Various food, preferably tastier and more varied. Maybe even, than Tsapok is not joking , caviar. But it would be better to have components for classic dishes, that is, a dish - Olivier. A whole basin of Olivier.

What would I advise you to send to those sitting? Transfers are strictly limited in the transfer zone, and with 146% probability, the inmates gave their loved ones ahead of time the exact lists, verified to the gram, in order to celebrate the New Year with dignity and chic. It seems that you can buy in electronic stores of the pre-trial detention center (at least it was possible before) without restrictions, so I would advise showering political prisoners with cigarettes, coffee and sweets. They will be happy as children. Well, send a postcard - there will be something to read.

Vladimir Akimenkov The person involved in the Bolotnaya case. Was in custody in SIZO-5 "Vodnik" and SIZO "Matrosskaya Tishina" from June 10, 2012 to December 19, 2013. Released under an amnesty.

Any attention from the will is important for people in places of deprivation of liberty. A postcard for the New Year or a congratulatory letter - you can, for example, write it through the electronic service "FSIN-letter" - will cheer up a person. Delicious non-prison food diversifies the New Year's table of a prisoner or convict within four walls, and sent books will brighten up meager leisure. Support the prisoners and please do not forget about their loved ones, who are also having a hard time. When lending a helping hand to an inmate, keep in mind the nuances of the “correctional” system and specific institutions: somewhere the “FSIN-letter” does not work yet, it is not possible to order goods remotely everywhere, in the colonies there are limits on parcels, transfers and parcels.

Issues of financial assistance, including sending parcels, must be coordinated with relatives or with a person's support group. You can order books in a pre-trial detention center or colony through specialized online stores. Please, be as attentive as possible and be prepared for the fact that the materialization of even the simplest objects on the other side of the lattice will turn into a whole quest. I remember with gratitude the help and support that various people gave me when I was sitting.

Each correctional facility has a list of acceptable products and things that can be given to a person in custody. The universal list was compiled by the Rus Sitting Foundation, however, before making a transfer, it is better to familiarize yourself with the list of permitted items and the transfer rules on the website of a particular pre-trial detention center or colony. The list and transfer rules can only be posted at a transfer reception point, such as, for example, in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. The parcel can also be sent by mail.

All prisoners, regardless of where they are, can be sent a paper letter. Some institutions are connected to the " FSIN-letter " service, through which you can send an e-mail. There is a special website for sending letters to political prisoners - RosUznik .

online store Books can be ordered through the OZON .

Alexey Gaskarov The person involved in the Bolotnaya case. In August 2014, he was sentenced to 3.5 years in a penal colony (he has been in a pre-trial detention center since April 2013), and was released in October 2016 from colony No. 6 in the Tula region.

New Year in prison is not a super important story. There is no hype around it. It is clear that they are also trying to organize some kind of holiday there, to tighten some kind of cake through parcels, but in general, the New Year is a sad holiday. Of course, everyone wants to meet him at home, so there is no concentration on him. There is no New Year's magic there. This is another day that I want to live faster, so as not to think once again that the New Year is being held in prison.

Letters, postcards are always important, especially when it comes to political prisoners. I wrote a lot, it was always a pleasure to be in correspondence. The only thing that, probably, few people would note, but this is actually important, is not so much gifts for prisoners, but gifts for relatives of prisoners on their behalf. If, for example, a guy who is now in prison has a girlfriend, then he himself cannot order anything for her, but if someone who is in touch with him does this, the person will be pleased.

Since many holidays in Russia are tied to some kind of cuisine, probably, everything related to unusual food is also welcome. I now keep in touch with people in custody, they are trying to figure out some kind of festive table, asking them to pass on a cake, some rare ready-made food. Usually they don’t bother with this, because it’s difficult to store ready-made and perishable food in the zone, but they ask for it on New Year’s Eve.

Sergey Udaltsov In July 2014, he was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in the case of organizing mass riots on May 6, 2012 on Bolotnaya Square. On August 8, 2017, he was released from colony No. 3 in the Tambov region.

Any attention, no matter for the New Year or not, is always in demand. Any transfer, letter or postcard is a great value. In such places, the simplest things are needed: cigarettes, tea, coffee, which are partly the local currency. Something sweet, fruits, vegetables.

By the New Year, you can convey something tastier, more pleasant, more expensive, if possible. Something sincere for people to celebrate, eat, drink tea. If you take the intangible, then you can write some kind words, congratulations. This is true at any time, and especially for the New Year. As in ordinary life, in such places people also celebrate the New Year. Yes, there is a tougher regime, there are some nuances. All night they don't walk there, of course, if we don't take some thieves' prisoners. But they gather, the table is laid. When someone contributes - tea, food - it is appreciated.

Alexander Margolin The person involved in the Bolotnaya case. Arrested on February 20, 2013. Sentenced to 3.5 years in a penal colony. He left colony No. 6 in the Ryazan region in February 2016.

Not only on the New Year, but always, always, you need to do the following: do exactly what the person asks. And if he asks not to do something, do not do it. It was formulated by people who were imprisoned under Stalin, in my opinion, as follows: "If a prisoner asks to bring him a piece of shit, then you need to bring him a piece of shit." This is an iron rule, which greatly facilitates being there.

As for gifts, it is very individual. It is clear that everyone universally wants freedom, but in general, of course, someone has something that triggers: for one, for example, these are smells, and you can spray some thing with fragrance, you can do something else. But, of course, you need to ask what exactly is needed.

From my own experience, I will say this: you always want something juicy, because tea is tea, but there are not enough vegetables, juices, Pepsi-Cola. Given that they serve boiled food there, you always sit on these boiled porridges, because not everyone has tiles, and you always want something fried, some kind of spicy taste. I once had nori with wasabi. Of course, they are expensive, you need to understand this. Still, we must not forget that it is better not to bring expensive things there if a person does not ask for it. This can put a person in an uncomfortable position, because there is no need to show that there is financial well-being.

A person may not say what kind of relationship he has with others in prison, and if he does not ask for something, then this should not be done.