Inmates in Vietnam are allowed to receive money sent by relatives twice a month

Inmates in Vietnam are allowed to receive money sent by relatives twice a month (Illustrative image)

To be specific, Article 21 of the Military Prison Regulations issued together with Circular 132/2012/TT-BQP stipulates that when meeting with relatives, inmates are allowed to receive cash. Besides, each month twice, inmates are allowed to receive money sent by their relatives. The prison directly manages the inmates' cash. During the execution of a prison sentence, inmates are not allowed to use cash, valuable papers, foreign currency, gold, silver, precious stones, precious metals, watches, or jewelry. inmates buy food, provisions, and goods to serve their daily life, send telegrams, and make phone calls through the payment form of the “Book for monitoring consigned money and canteen purchases of inmates”.

Relatives visiting inmates with money are to be managed by the officer on duty, who is responsible for receiving and signing such in the Visiting Book. If the Visiting Book is unavailable, a receipt must be issued to the money sender. The amount of money must be recorded in the “Book for monitoring consigned money and canteen purchases of inmates”. When relatives send money by post to inmates, the prison warden assigns officers to collect the money from the post office and then record the amount in the “Book for monitoring consigned money and canteen purchases of inmates”. The money is then handed over to the prison's financial department for strict management through the unit’s accounting, financial system as per legal regulations in Vietnam.

Rewards and other legitimate income will be recorded in the “Book for monitoring consigned money and canteen purchases of inmates” for inmates to use, send to their families, or receive after serving their prison sentences. Each month, inmates are allowed to buy food and provisions but no more than three times the average monthly food allowance as stipulated by the State (this allowance is converted into money). The money used for buying other daily commodities is not included in the money for extra food purchasing.

When inmates with money, goods, or valuables are transferred to another prison, the transferring party is responsible for handing over the money and items to the receiving institution. The handover must be documented, signed by the transferring party, the receiving party, and the inmate.

More details can be found in Circular 132/2012/TT-BQP, which comes into effect in Vietnam from January 21, 2013.

Le Vy

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