Russian Jailors Increasingly Demand Inmates Use Only Russian in Correspondence

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Feb. 21 – Russian jailors are increasingly demanding that non-Russian inmates use Russian rather than their native language despite in violation of Russian law. Those who refuse cannot count on their letters being delivered to addresses, according to an investigation by the Idel.Real portal.
    Such violations became commonplace when Ukrainians began to be held in Russian prisons and have expanded over the last year when Bashkirs being held in prisons outside their native republic were told they must write in Russian (idelreal.org/a/pishite-po-russki-kak-v-rossiyskih-sizo-zapreschayut-perepisyvatsya-na-rodnyh-yazykah/33320564.html).
    Although this practice has likely spread because in many prisons, there may not be any jailor who knows the non-Russian language and thus this requirement is being introduced for their convenience, it is yet another way that by allowing it, the Putin regime is tightening the noose around those who speak languages other than Russian.