English

Authorities drop libel case against journalist Andrzej Poczobut

The Hrodna regional office of the Investigative Committee on March 15 dropped a libel case against journalist Andrzej Poczobut, concluding that his guilt had not been proved during a nine-month inquiry.

As Syarhey Sharshanevich, spokesman for the Investigative Committee’s regional office, told BelaPAN, linguists who examined Mr. Poczobut’s articles came to conflicting conclusions and no conclusive evidence of his guilt could be found.

The authorities have already lifted all travel restrictions on the 39-year-old journalist.
Mr. Poczobut, a Hrodna-based correspondent of the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and an ethnic Pole, was arrested at his home in Hrodna in western Belarus on June 21, 2012 for allegedly libeling Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

According to the Investigative Committee, articles written by Mr. Poczobut and posted on the Internet "contained libelous statements concerning the head of state."

Mr. Poczobut was released on his own recognizance on June 30 after being formally charged with a repeat offense of defaming the head of state, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

It was reported in July that a special team had been formed to investigate the charge against Mr. Poczobut.

The European Union and human rights organizations condemned the case against Mr. Poczobut as politically motivated.

In 2011, Mr. Poczobut spent three months in jail and was eventually sentenced to a suspended three-year prison term with two
years' probation for allegedly insulting and defaming Mr. Lukashenka in his articles.

As Mr. Poczobut told reporters, defamation was largely found in the fact that he had called Mr. Lukashenka a dictator.