Sending money

Possession of money in a maximum-security prison is forbidden and all settlements to any imprisoned person or arrested person shall be made through the internal open personal account. The money that the imprisoned person had with him/her at the time of arriving in prison, the wages earned by him/her as well as the money sent by those closest to him/her shall be transferred to the personal account. For the sums on the account the imprisoned person can purchase goods from the prison store, subscribe for publications, pay for the use of electrical devices (radio, television receiver) at his/her disposal and he/she can send money to his/her family members and dependants or to his/her bank account.

Hence it is forbidden to send money to the imprisoned person by post or within a package or hand it over at the time of short-term or long-term visits.

The money intended for the imprisoned person must be transferred to the prison bank account.The payment order must surely indicate the given name, surname, father’s name and birth date of the imprisoned person.

While sending money to the imprisoned person it must be kept in mind that only the arrested person can fully use the money on the personal account. As regards the imprisoned person, 50% of all sums accruing on his/her personal account shall be kept for civil claims and 20% shall be deposited to the savings fund to be handed over to the imprisoned person on release (depositing to the savings fund shall commence when less than 5 years remains to be served). If there are no civil claims against the imprisoned person or if they cover less than 50% of the sums, 70% of the sums accruing to the personal account shall be deposited to the savings fund. The imprisoned person shall receive the sum deposited to the savings fund on release from prison.

Use of money in prison is governed by § 44 of the Imprisonment Act and by Chapter 11 of Minister of Justice Regulation No 72 of 30 November 2000 “Prison Rules of Internal Procedure.”