No letters from political prisoners: censors on holidays

• 30.07.2013, 7:31

Political prisoner Eduard Lobau cannot send and receive letters – a prison censor has gone on holidays.

Charter97.org learnt the news from his mother Maryna Lobava.

“Eduard calls last Tuesday. He said he was fine, but he couldn't write letters because the censor was on holidays, so his letters might be lost. He told me not to write him, because it has no sense. Letters may be lost in prison. We only can talk on the phone” the mother of the political prisoner says.

She adds her son finally got his teeth fixed in correctional colony No. 22 in Ivatsevichy.

“The prison authorities had been denying access to dental care for more than 18 months. Another problem is mosquitoes, but they disappeared in hot weather. It's better now,” Maryna Lobava said.

Young Front activist Eduard Lobau was sentenced to four years of imprisonment for hooliganism. He serves his term in a correctional colony in Ivatsevichy. Young Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich and he were accused of beating people in Minsk a day before the presidential election. The “beaten” men hid their faces from public when giving evidence at the trial. Lobau and Dashkevich said the brawl had been organised by security services.