English

Poczobut sentenced to three years in prison with two years’ suspension

 

A district judge in Hrodna on July 5 sentenced journalist Andrzej Poczobut, one of the leaders of the Warsaw-backed Union of Poles in Belarus (UPB), to three years in prison with two years’ suspension, BelaPAN said.

As defense lawyer Alyaksandr Birylaw told reporters, Judge Vital Lyatsko cleared the accused of the charge of insulting the president but found him guilty of defaming the president.

The 38-year-old Poczobut, who had been held in custody since April 6, was immediately released after the sentence was handed down. Mr. Poczobut left the courthouse and picked up his little son in his arms. Dozens of supporters greeted him, singing "Sto Lat" (One Hundred Years), a traditional Polish song sung to express good wishes, good health and long life to a person.

Only seven people – Mr. Poczobut’s wife Aksana, other relatives, and UPB leaders – were let into the courtroom to attend the pronouncement of the judgment. Andrzej Chodkiewicz, Poland’s consul general in Hrodna, was barred from entering the courthouse.

The closed-door trial of the Hrodna-based correspondent of the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza began in the Leninski District Court in Hrodna on June 14. He was accused of insulting and defaming Alyaksandr Lukashenka in his articles published by the online version of Gazeta Wyborcza, news site belaruspartisan.org, and social networking site livejournal.com.

The articles included "Time to Tighten Screws," "Lukashenka Finds Another Target," "Belarusian Election without Choice," "This is how Lukashenka Rules," "Lukashenka: Yes, I Rigged Election," and others.