A selection of New Year's gifts for political prisoners

How to congratulate the political prisoners Happy New Year and what things can you give them?

Briefly

On November 23, the Human Rights Project "OTD-Info" published a base of politically motivated criminal prosecutions. According to the project, in Russia now 1040 people are deprived of freedom for political affairs.

Human rights activists also note: in 2023, political pressure methods were tightened - the number of cases of state security has grown sharply, and the defendants in anti -war cases are increasingly being sentenced by real terms. There are a lot of political prisoners, and there is not enough resource to support everyone.

Alexandra Popov, the wife of the political prisoner and a participant in the project “Letters and Improvisation” , began to help prisoners in the days of Moscow, in 2019. Previously, she knew every political prisoner by name, she was familiar with friends and relatives. Now people who need help are several dozen times more, and the deadlines have become worse, the girl admits. There are almost no activists who are engaged in direct help while in Russia. Therefore, the support of the Political Zecks is now extremely important, because almost anyone can make a gear and brighten up a holiday to a person in a pre -trial detention center or colony.

Elena, a member of the team “Letters and Improvisation” and “Transfer of the pre -trial detention center” , actively helps political prisoners from the beginning of the war. It corresponds with almost 20 prisoners, and also makes transfers and coordinates the help of one of the defendants in the case of “spring”.

The “line” talked with the girls and found out how to congratulate the political prisoners on the New Year, what gifts will delight a person and what rules should be taken into account when choosing them.

Observe the rules and show imagination

The rules in specific pre -trial detention centers and colonies are very different. Therefore, if a person wants to send a gift to political prisoners, the first thing to do is to find out the schedule of the insulator or prison. Our interlocutors advise not to look for logic in the rules, but to show imagination and try to send different things.

“In some pre -trial detention centers in Tver, only black clothes are possible, and in the pre -trial detention center of Moscow and St. Petersburg - any. There is no book in the Butyrka pre -trial detention center, but in pre -trial detention center No. 6 are fewer restrictions. You do everything at random. It is not clear whether they can convey to this specific pre -trial detention center, for example, a book in thick binding or is needed in a thin one. I send both in thick and thin, and then at the addressee I clarify what was handed over to him. He answers either two or not one. And it is not known why. Here is such a routine of a pre -trial detention center, ”says Elena.

In addition, it is important to understand whether a person needs a transmission at all. And if so, then what exactly. To do this, you can write a letter, contact the initiative group of the political prisoner, his friends or relatives. Especially if it concerns the transmission to the male colony. There, the number of programs and parcels depends on the type of regime and conditions for serving the sentence; In female colonies, it is unlimited. Due to the restrictions on the number of parcels in the male colony, in many cases, the most useful simply transfer money to the personal account of the F-money, the prisoner through the service .

You can check the limits of the packages according to the table , which was made by the activists of the "open space". A list of prohibited items, as well as how to properly collect and send the parcel, can be found in detailed instructions “OVD-info” .

If you want to congratulate the political prisoner and not be mistaken, these are a few general recommendations that will help you.

Letters

The easiest way to congratulate the political prisoners on the holiday is a letter. You can put snowflakes cut out of paper, a paper garland, New Year's stickers and stickers. So the prisoner will be able to decorate the camera for a while and create a festive mood for himself. According to Alexandra, it is impossible to decorate the camera very much, because "it is not supposed to." The employees of the pre -trial detention center can come and throw everything out. But despite this, a person will still have the opportunity to at least see something pleasant at least for a while, for which the look will cling.

“Last year, my colleagues on the project“ Letters and Improvisation ”cut out snowflakes for political prisoners. We then invested these snowflakes along with postcards, letters and sent to a pre -trial detention center and in a colony. These snowflakes were also sent to my husband. He said that he glued them on the toothpaste to the surface of the walls, ”says Alexandra.

You can also collect the main memes of 2023, but be sure to remove obscenity words, for example, to paint over. With the pictures, the Zonatelekom service will help , it prints and sends digital photographs to prisoners. Also, according to Elena and Alexandra, it is very pleasant to receive creative letters by political prisoners: you can tell in a letter a class story that happened to you, retell the news, subjecting them to self -censorship. If you draw, put a drawing, if you photograph, put photos.

Elena takes pictures from the age of 15 and sends her work in jail. And this is not only creative shootings, but also ordinary photo reports “from will”. For example, the girl goes to exhibitions, takes pictures of exhibits, and then sends pictures in a letter. The more new and interesting information a person receives in places of imprisonment, the easier it is for him to experience the conclusion.

Another great option is to give a few empty New Year cards, which the prisoner then will be able to send to his relatives or friends from the pre -trial detention center.

Other services for sending letters:

Prisonmail.online - Payment from foreign cards is possible

FSIN-written

Food

If a person is in a pre -trial detention center, and he has not yet received a sentence, you can order him food. On New Year's Eve there are a lot of different offers from sites, for example, services for delivering products to the pre-trial detention center “Warehouse of the SIZO” and “Sitting-Dyim” are offered ready-made New Year's sets. Since everyone has different taste preferences , and the cells do not always have refrigerators, it is better to first contact the prisoner himself and find out all the necessary information. However, according to Elena, there is a set of products that will always be in handy, especially on New Year's Eve:

“More delicious! You can put some candies, sneakers, chocolate, doshiraks. You can put tea, coffee, of course, sugar, in which case the prisoner will change it, will give it to the cellmates. You can put soluble potatoes, cereals, muesli, that in principle, everyone eats. Buy a small New Year's sweet gift. ”

You can also buy soda, for example, “Duches”, which vaguely resembles champagne. Alexandra put a sweet lemonade for her husband last year. And although he usually does not drink soda, they poured “duches” with cellmates under the chimes in the chimes.

Subscription to magazines

Another way to find out news in places of imprisonment is a subscription to regular magazines and newspapers. Elena and Alexander recommend issuing a subscription to the "Interlocutor" publication - there are still articles about different political cases and affairs.

Cloth

Clothing is another excellent gift that is advised to give political prisoners. Since it is cold in the chambers, and you can’t hide with plaid or blanket even in case of illness, you can buy warm socks, pajamas or a terry robe. And so that the clothes not only warm, but also please, choose a New Year's print or cute and beautiful drawings. T -shirts and sweatshirts with non -obvious political statements and merchants of other political prisoners will also delight a person. The main thing is to show imagination.

According to Elena, it happens that the FSIN employees are indignant and say that only black clothes can. But her practice shows that color T -shirts are accepted in most cases.

Hare cosmetics

Crust cosmetics is the rare and pleasant thing that is missed in a pre -trial detention center and which will cheer up any person. Creams, tonics, scrubs, serums, shampoos, face masks-everything is very necessary, and this is not some whim, Alexander says. The skin becomes unusable, the water in a pre -trial detention center is also not of better quality and spoils her hair, especially if the girl has brightened or has a chemical plant. The only prerequisite is that all cosmetic products should be in plastic banks and are not opened. Glass, aluminum and iron are prohibited, and tubes are most likely cutting during inspection.

Moreover, cosmetics will be pleased not only for girls. Hygienic lipsticks and hand creams are needed by everyone. Decorative cosmetics are most often not accepted. But this ban can be tried to get around, for example, by buying a cream that levels the skin tone, or color hygienic lipstick.

Books

For the New Year it is great to give some interesting book, but there are also several recommendations here. According to Elena, it is sometimes difficult for political prisoners to read serious books, for example, Orwell, Huxley and other anti -utopias. It is better to give something light and informative: the novels of Remarque, Jack London, the Strugatsky brothers, Agatha Christie. But here it is also important to proceed from the preferences of a particular person and find out what genres and which authors he prefers. In any case, a good book can always be presented with cellmates or change for something. And it will also be good, Elena believes.

Creation

Products in places of prison will help to brighten up everyday life for hobbies and creativity. For example, a beautiful diary, notebook, an album for drawing. But with a written office is more difficult. In jail, only blue and black handles can be transmitted, you can not wage. But colored pencils are most often accepted without any problems. The truth is to give a sharpener for them, alas, it will not work, since there is a blade inside it.

Another non-obvious gift is anti-stress coloring. They perfectly kill time and help to relax. For example, Elena gave them to one political prisoner, he painted the very first with only two colors - blue and black, and then sent back. It turned out very beautifully.

Kill time

More recently, Medusa said : playing cards are prohibited in Russian prisons and pre -trial detention centers - but not board games. According to the participants in the project “Letters Improvisation”, this is a really cool gift. Many people in insulators play tables for several days in a row, because there is nothing more to do there. However, it is important to pay attention to how good a prisoner with cellmates has and whether there is a place for games at all: often there is a pre -consulation problem in the pre -trial detention center. According to Alexandra, perhaps board games will be more relevant for women's insulators, because most girls-included sentences are serving punishments in large common cameras.

Crosswords and Sudoku are also quite banal, but a pleasant gift that will help to kill time. Especially for the elderly political prisoners, of which there are now more. The main thing is not to forget to put the pen.

“Gearings are always about warmth, care. For those who have long been in isolation, it is important to get something pleasant. Especially if no one is following the case, no one writes to a person, ”says Alexandra. - A gift is a pleasant reminder that they have not forgotten about you, they love you. And this helps to hold out for a few more days, helps to break out of the routine in which the person was. In conclusion, the psyche suffers very much. Therefore, writing, sending chambers, delighting food is the only thing we can do. ”