Ex-political prisoner Eduard Lobau wanted by police

Former political prisoner Eduard Lobau may face new criminal charges, according to the website of the Belarusian Documentation Center.

“Today, November 4 at 8:10 criminal investigation officers came to our place. They were looking for Eduard. They wanted to come and search the apartment, but they had no search warrant, so I didn’t let them in. They asked when I last saw my son and where he was at the moment. The visit was not unexpected, since they have visited me before. But this time, they surprised me by saying that they wanted Eduard for a crime committed under Art. 206 of the Criminal Code (robbery), rather than Art. 421 (failure to comply with the preventive supervision restrictions) and Art. 422 (evasion of preventive supervision). They could not explain the inconsistency of the earlier charges and current ones. They said that they were given the papers and they started looking for him. So I do not know if this is the usual low level of training of the Ministry of Interior and the ignorance of the articles of the Criminal Code, or my son once again faces a fabricated criminal case,” said Maryna Lobava, Eduard’s mother.

Eduard Lobau was detained, along with his associate Dzmitry Dashkevich, on December 18, 2010, the day before the presidential election. According to the investigation, the activists allegedly beat two passers-by. Their detention was viewed as a preventive measure ahead of the presidential election. On March 24, 2011 Lobau was sentenced to four years imprisonment under Part 3, Article 339 of the Criminal Code (especially malicious hooliganism).

The political prisoner was released on December 18, 2014.