{"id":19282,"date":"2025-07-18T15:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T15:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/19282\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T15:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T15:50:09","slug":"russian-prisons-restrict-inmates-access-to-foreign-books-and-language-materials-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/19282\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Prisons Restrict Inmates’ Access to Foreign Books and Language Materials \u2013 Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russian prisons are increasingly restricting inmates\u2019 access to foreign literature and books in foreign languages, the independent news outlet Mozhem Obyasnit reported<\/a> Friday.<\/p>\n

Inmates across Russia have reported bans on works by foreign authors, language study materials and even mainstream novels as prison censors tighten controls over what prisoners are allowed to read.<\/p>\n

Sergei Dudchenko, a political prisoner held in Rostov-on-Don\u2019s Detention Center No. 1 for over six months, said authorities permitted him to keep only one of four books sent by supporters.<\/p>\n

A biography of Italian industrialist Enzo Ferrari was allegedly banned because Ferrari is a foreign citizen. Joe Hill\u2019s \u201cHeart-Shaped Box\u201d was confiscated because its skull-decorated cover was deemed inappropriate, while a book by Russian author Sergei Dovlatov was withheld without explanation.<\/p>\n

Dudchenko was allowed to keep Jack Kerouac\u2019s \u201cOn the Road.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the same facility, other inmates were denied books from the \u201cFifty Shades of Grey\u201d series as well as materials in French, English and Ukrainian.<\/p>\n

Detainees reported similar restrictions at SIZO-6 in Gorelovo near St. Petersburg. Ivan Zabavsky was barred from receiving English language study guides including \u201cEnglish Grammar in Use.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music books were also banned at SIZO-5 in St. Petersburg, according to former political prisoner Sasha Skolichenko, who said officials claimed that musical notes could be used to conceal coded messages.<\/p>\n

In the Samara region, political prisoner Yulia Koveshnikova reported that her prison prohibited her from reading novels, detective stories or any foreign literature.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems I\u2019m only allowed\u00a0to read patriotic material, so I’ll need a lot of crossword puzzles and pens to entertain myself,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Books and magazines often disappear during inspection, inmates said, with appeals rarely resulting in access.<\/p>\n

Eva Levenberg, a lawyer for leading independent rights project\u00a0OVD-Info lawyer, said that while extremist materials are prohibited under Russian law, prison administrations exercise broad discretionary powers over which books they permit.<\/p>\n

Some prisons reject materials based on their perceived effects on inmates\u2019 \u201cpsycho-emotional state,\u201d she told Mozhem Obyasnit.<\/p>\n

Levenberg advised families and supporters of prisoners to contact individual facilities before sending books, and noted that arbitrary rejections can be challenged through formal appeals.<\/p>\n

Russian prisons are notorious for their harsh conditions, with many inmates enduring bleak living conditions and frequent abuse at the hands of guards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russian prisons are increasingly restricting inmates\u2019 access to foreign literature and books in foreign languages, the independent news…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[223,88,17794,3076],"class_list":{"0":"post-19282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-political-prisoner","11":"tag-prison"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}