AKSAKOVO, June 18 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service plans to separate smokers and non-smokers in prisons and other detention facilities, an official said on Tuesday.
“We will certainly separate smoking and non-smoking suspects, defendants and convicts,” said Valery Trofimov, who heads the service’s department for social, psychological and educational work with inmates. “There will be smoking and non-smoking cells in remand centers. At present, smoking is banned in prisons except in designated zones. Smoking elsewhere is a violation of the prison routine,” he added.
The service will also tell relatives of juvenile prisoners not to send them cigarettes, and shops at juvenile correction facilities will not sell tobacco to customers under 18.
President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning smoking in public places and tobacco advertising on February 25.
The law came into force on June 1, 2013, though some provisions will only become effective a year later. Smoking will be banned in hotels, cafes and restaurants, and on commuter platforms from June 1, 2014.