Eduard Lobau: Summer began, but prison diet lacks fruits and vegetables

Young Front activist Eduard Lobau who serves his sentence  in a penal colony, was visited by his mother – Maryna Lobava.

“The meeting was short – barely a two-hour conversation. He is in a normal, snappy mood. He tanned a little bit, it seems that due to a good weather they are allowed to go out into the sun. I do not know whether the prosecutor will consider his complaint. They say they will review it, but do not say when. Probably after the review they will claim that all was done in accordance with the law … as usual. “

Summer came, but  is it reflected in the prison diet? Do prisoners receive fruits and fresh vegetables? As Maryna Lobava says:

«Prisoners are given neither fruits nor vegetables. The only vegetables are sauerkraut or pickled cucumbers, that’s all. Even in the cafeteria, there are no fruits. Same in the prison shop, they often appear in the autumn. If there is such an opportunity, relatives provide prisoners with vitamins in food packages»

Eduard was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment. Lobau was detained on 18th December 2010 together with Young Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich. They were accused of beating passers-by, Konstantin Savitsky and Olieg Malyshev, in the backyard of one of the houses on the Yanka Bryl street. The detention of Lobau and Dashkevich was a preventive action prepared by Belarusian special services before the presidential election that took place on 19 December 2010.

Until the hearing, Eduard Lobau was held in Zhodzina penal colony, and since early March in Volodarka (the Minsk penal colony). While in Zhodzina penal colony, he refused to testify against Young Front activists and was threatened with violence.

From 7 July 2011 Lobau is serving his sentence in the colony No. 22 in Ivatsevichy (so-called “wolf holes”).