Do you have the right to communicate with the outside world?
You still have the right to communicate with the outside world when detained. Of course, your right and the opportunity to communicate will be restricted, but it must not be denied completely.
You have the following rights of communication:
- To inform your family and relatives where are you detained
- To have a meeting with your relatives or other people for 40 minutes at least twice a month
- To send and receive post
- To receive parcels
- To use the phone at the pre-trial arrest and prison for contacts with relatives and lawyers
- To receive money
- To write to municipal or state institutions, as well as to national or international human rights institutions
You can read more about the scope and limitations of your communication in the Law on the Execution of Punishments and Detention on Remand in the Rules and Regulations of the Law on the Execution of Punishments and Detention on Remand.
What human rights violation may there be?
Your rights to communication can be restricted only in the situations allowed by law. Moreover, any restriction has to be necessary and proportional. Otherwise, it may result in a violation of your right to private and family life. Read more about the right to communicate.
For example, your communication with national or international human rights institutions, your lawyer, the court, the prosecution, or diplomatic services if you are a foreigner, must not be controlled.
Your meetings with relatives or other people should normally be private, but may take place in the presence of a guard in certain situations. Meetings and communications with some more distant relatives and third parties may be restricted by an order of a prosecutor or a court. You must have an opportunity to appeal them to a higher authority.