The Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Alexander Reimer, and the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, Alexander Boroda, signed a cooperation agreement on Tuesday, July 6.
“People sent to serve time in penitentiaries go there with the firm desire that they will not be sent there again,” Mr. Reimer told reporters after the signing ceremony. He noted that religion is an effective way for inmates to improve themselves, and cooperation makes the potential even more effective.
Mr. Boroda informed reporters that two chapels have already been opened in Russian penitentiaries in the Arkhangelsk region, and that there is also a prayer room in a penitentiary located near Saratov. The FJC Russia also plans to open at least another ten prayer rooms in correctional facilities, depending on the actual number of Jewish inmates.
According to this agreement, the Federal Prison Service is committed to helping establish chapels and prayer rooms in prisons, as well as distributing printed materials containing “spiritual, moral and patriotic content.” On its part, the FJC Russia will contribute “to creating the conditions for inmates to improve themselves, to realize their guilt and to develop their desire to correct their own existing negative qualities.”