Frequently asked questions FSIN-LETTER

One of the main tasks of the penitentiary system in Russia is to correct the convicted person and prepare him for release. It can be carried out successfully only if prisoners maintain social ties with relatives in freedom. For these purposes, the FSIN encourages convicts to communicate with them. However, it should be taken into account that the visits required by the current PEC of the Russian Federation are extremely limited. In addition, telephone calls are also subject to restrictions.

However, all prisoners and their relatives have the opportunity to exchange letters without any restrictions. With the development of information technology, it has become possible to send emails, which is much more convenient than writing traditional paper letters through Russian Post. The specifics of sending electronic messages to prisoners will be discussed further in this article.

How to write a letter to prison (pre-trial detention center or penal colony)

Since 2008, citizens at large and those in prison can exchange emails.
This is possible thanks to the FSIN-LETTER service. The service provides a communication channel for a fee. You can write an email through this service by selecting the appropriate region and the corresponding institution in the “Where” section. If you do not find the required region and institution in the list, then the email cannot be sent. The letter should be sent by regular mail.

For a list of regions and institutions where the FSIN-LETTER service operates, see here>>>>.

Requirements for letters and their contents

It is necessary to take a responsible approach to the content, because all letters to prisoners undergo strict censorship.

There are two reasons why you are not allowed to write something about a criminal case:

The danger is also associated with unscrupulous employees who work in the same institution. They are also kept together with the prisoner, which is not always beneficial.

There is also other information that it is recommended not to include in letters:

Words and expressions in foreign languages.
Calls to disrupt the political system, even if they are given as a joke.
Profanity, jargon.
Information about drugs and weapons, their sale.
Any type of communication with the convicted person.
Information regarding the defendants in the criminal case.
A description of any actions of the prisoner that were not previously known to the control services.

The use of photographs with erotic content is also prohibited. It is not prohibited to attach photos of close relatives and family members, but with additional notes.

Attention! It is better to talk in general terms about the current situation in the family. You can write about anything that is not directly related to the criminal investigation.

How to send an email through the FSIN-LETTER service

It's easy to do. You need to go to the website fsin-pismo.ru. Next, the region and correctional institution are selected from the list. Then enter information about the sender and recipient.

Below, in a special window, enter the text of the letter directly. Additionally, you can attach a photo or request a response. When everything is finished, the “send” button is pressed. Then the letter must be paid for. Read clear instructions on our website here>>> .

How to apply

There are different options for sending messages to prisoners in a pre-trial detention center, but in any case, each of them must include the following details:

name and mail address of the pre-trial detention center;
FULL NAME. person detained in custody (cannot be reduced);
year of birth of the arrested person;
FULL NAME. and the full address of the sender.

It is possible to remain anonymous and indicate a fictitious full name. and address in case the sender wants to hide his connection with the arrested person. Persons detained in pre-trial detention centers are not limited in their correspondence, so no one checks such data.

How to send an email to pre-trial detention center 1 Matrosskaya Tishina or pre-trial detention center-2 Butyrka (Moscow)

To send an email to pre-trial detention center 1 Matrosskaya Tishina and pre-trial detention center-2 Butyrka (Moscow), you must select on the resource the region (Moscow) and the name of the corresponding institution (pre-trial detention center 1 Matrosskaya Tishina or pre-trial detention center-2 Butyrka) as shown in the picture below:

Next, you need to fill out all the other details and write the text of the letter itself in the space provided and send it. Read clear instructions on our website here>>> .

Two shipping methods

There are two options for sending letters: sending by mail and electronically (using special resources).

Paper

A person is more familiar and, one might say, more familiar with paper and pen. Through handwriting, choice of paper and external design, a person can express his inner self , there is a lot of room for individuality. But there are also disadvantages: long delivery by mail, the risk of losing the message, difficulties in obtaining envelopes, stamps, and pens in the end. We talked about how to send a parcel by mail in this article.

Before being sent, the letter is checked by censors and registered in a pre-trial detention center. The last stage deserves special mention: both sent and received letters must be entered into a special journal. It indicates the date of its receipt, the date of dispatch and all contact information. The envelope is given unsealed.

If you choose the paper option, remember that you will definitely need to indicate:

Personal data of the addressee: last name, first name, patronymic, date of birth - without abbreviations or errors. Nicknames are not allowed.
Name of institution, address.
Sender details (full name and postal address).

Photo of a signed envelope for sending a letter to the pre-trial detention center:

There is one exception: a prisoner can send a letter without indicating the details of the pre-trial detention center to his child who has not reached 18 years of age. This is permitted upon a written application from the prisoner, in accordance with paragraph 81 of these Rules.

From the moment the letter is received, the administration of the pre-trial detention center is responsible for its safety and ensures the secrecy of correspondence.

Only simple letters can be sent to the pre-trial detention center . Prisoners do not have the right to receive correspondence in person, so there is no point in sending registered messages. You can find out contact information about the pre-trial detention center (zip code, address) in several ways:

at a personal meeting with a prisoner;
via the Internet - all pre-trial detention centers are included in the catalog of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, just enter its name in a search engine and select the site where fsin.su is in the address, you will find a page in the catalog and if there is no address there, then at least the contact phone number of the prison at who you can call;
by seeking help from a lawyer.

Electronic FSIN.Letter

How to send an email to a prisoner in a colony online via the Internet? “FSIN-Letter” is an electronic service that allows prisoners and convicted persons in prison to conduct secure correspondence under the control of the supervisory authorities of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation.

The service allows you not only to control the correspondence of prisoners, but also to obtain additional data that can help in operational work.

The processing of such letters occurs in an accelerated manner, as well as sending - the letter will be delivered within 2-3 days from the moment payment is received. To send a message, use the website https://fsin-pismo.ru .

Action plan:

Go to the “Write” section.
Select the region in which the institution is located and the name of the pre-trial detention center from the drop-down list. When correct data is entered, the windows will be highlighted in green.
Enter information about the recipient of the letter (last name, first name, patronymic, date and year of birth) in the “To” block.
Enter your own information as the sender (first name, last name, patronymic, contact phone number and email address) in the “From” block. Here you can save your data if you plan to send more letters in the future. Just check the “Remember my personal data” box.
The “Text” block is provided for the message itself. The cost of a page (up to 2500 characters) is 55 rubles.
The last step is to send the message to the recipient.

You can send a simple text message over the Internet, but you can also add a photo to it. 1 piece costs 30-40 rubles. Many pre-trial detention centers now have a photo printer . To receive an answer you will also have to pay from 55 rubles. Read about which Internet services you can use to send a transfer here.

Payment: through a special payment card (“FSIN-letter” of different denominations: from 330 to 5500 rubles) or using a cell phone. The cost of services varies in different regions. If payment is not received, the text and photo will be stored in the database for 30 days, after which they will be erased. A scanned copy of the payment receipt should be sent by email.

An e-mail, like a paper letter, should not violate the norms of Russian legislation. The decision to send or refuse to send is made by the administration of the institution.

The message is assigned a certain status:

“the letter was not censored”;
“the addressee is not registered with the institution”;
“the addressee has departed”;
“delivery delayed”;
“the addressee is released”;
“the recipient received the message.”

All these statuses are an indication that the service has been completed and payment is not refundable.

Only Russian language is allowed.

In addition, it is prohibited:

Send copies of literary and artistic works.
Periodicals (this is regulated by the Federal Law “On the detention of suspects and accused of committing crimes” dated July 15, 1995).
You cannot insert emoticons or other signs into the text (even if they do not contain any subtext).

The letter delivered to the prisoner is printed along with a photograph. To respond, the prisoner just needs to write his message on paper, which he hands over to the censor, who, in turn, scans it and sends it to the specified address.

How to get a response to a FPS letter

If the sender of the letter wants the prisoner to respond to the letter, he must check the appropriate box. It appears after you start working on the text. A letter with an opportunity to respond will cost more. After sending and paying for the letter, it must be censored and must be delivered to the addressee. The sender of the letter will receive notifications about all this to the email address specified when sending the letter. Next, after delivering the letter, the addressee must write a response and this response in the form of a scan of handwritten text will be sent to the sender’s email inbox.

Processing stages

After the message is sent and paid for, it goes to the colony employee responsible for censorship. The latter is the main stage of processing the shipment. The censor carefully checks the content and if it meets certain rules, the text is printed and given to the prisoner.

In cases where a return response has been ordered, the prisoner writes it on a blank form and then provides it to the administration of the institution. Here, the response letter is also censored, after which it is scanned, and the scan itself is sent to the relative.

If the prisoner does not want to write a response, then the money will not be returned to the sender.

Contents of messages

You can only write about personal or abstract topics, so it is forbidden to touch on crime or other prohibited topics. If this requirement is violated or censorship is not observed, the document is not handed over to the prisoner. Therefore, it is recommended that you first study the rules of the isolation ward.

It is prohibited to touch on the following topics when composing the text::

discussion of weapons, drugs or terrorism;
use of signs, ciphers or codes;
presentation of extremist thoughts;
use of profanity, insults or threats;
discussion of other means of communication;
disclosure of details of the crime.

It is prohibited to send letters with pornographic or erotic content.

What should the letter be like?

Given the limitations described above, the content of the letter is best shaped around family and everyday topics. Each relative of a prisoner knows best what his loved one would like to read. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about a certain sample of writing.

However, the most common topics are stories about the success of children, the health of family and friends. It must be remembered that the purpose of the letters is to support the prisoner. Therefore, it is worth writing him words of support and love. This is what really warms you up in the harsh conditions of the pre-trial detention center.

Traditional letter

When sending a regular paper letter, you need to take into account that it will take a very long time. If the pre-trial detention center is located in the same region of the Russian Federation where the sender of the letter lives, then taking into account the transfer time and the three-day censorship in the pre-trial detention center, the addressee will receive it no earlier than two weeks later. If the letter needs to be sent to another region, the delivery time may exceed a month.

Any attachments in the letter must be indicated in the text in a list, so that you can then demand their return if they disappear.

Alternative Methods

In addition to those described above, there are a number of other ways to convey news to an arrested relative. But some of them are inconvenient, while others are illegal.

For example, put a letter in a grocery or clothing parcel. The inconvenience of this method is that such parcels are accepted no more than once a month.

Another option is to submit the letter through a lawyer. But this is prohibited by law. If such transfers are detected, additional sanctions may be applied to the prisoner.

Based on this, it is better to use permitted methods of correspondence and comply with the restrictions established regarding the content of letters.

Features of the transfer of correspondence to pre-trial detention centers in 2022

Correspondence with the accused arrested, as well as with those already convicted, is regulated by Order of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation No. 205 of 2005. One of the key rules established by this document is strict censorship of all incoming and outgoing correspondence in places of detention. The only exception to this rule is correspondence with the prosecutor's office and courts of the Russian Federation, as well as international judicial bodies (ECHR, etc.).

Prisoners can send letters only at their own expense through the administration of the pre-trial detention center. But regulations do not establish restrictions on the number of letters.

Since the pre-trial detention center staff opens each letter and reads it carefully, the prisoner needs to take into account the nuances of the content of his correspondence.

Advantages

An email arrives faster than a regular letter.
Guarantee of delivery to the services of the institution carrying out the transmission of letters (FSIN).
Sending a letter at any convenient time (excluding weekends and holidays).
Registration is not required to send a letter.
Various forms of payment.
The opportunity to receive a response from your Addressee (the response is sent to you in the form of a scanned copy of the pages of your Addressee’s handwritten letter).
Possibility to send a photo.
Availability of a 24-hour support service that responds to your requests and always answers your questions.

Is it possible to attach something?

Can . Photographs, beautiful pictures, postcards, poems, drawings - in a word, everything that does not contain elements of pornography and other things prohibited by the legislation of the Russian Federation, for example, drugs or propaganda of homosexuality.

You must remember that in any case, your relative will not be the first to open this envelope; first, the letter will fall into the hands of the censors . And if something seems suspicious to them, the letter may not reach the addressee.

The list of attached materials must be indicated at the end of the letter!