Hrodna: trial of journalist Andzhei Pachobut started
Andrei Pachobut, journalist and blogger, correspondent for Gazeta Wyborcza
On 14 June the Leninski District Court of Hrodna started closed proceedings
in the criminal case against Andzhei Pachobut, correspondent with the Polish
weekly Gazeta Wyborcza. The journalist
is charged under two articles of the Criminal Code: Article 368, part 1, “defamation
of president”, and Article 367, part 1 “libel against president”, and faces 2-4
years of imprisonment. He spent two months in jail before the trial.
About 150 people came to the entrance of the court to support him, including
human rights defenders, civil activists, representatives of the Union of Poles
in Belarus,
his friends and relatives. According to the Chair of the HRC Viasna Ales Bialiatski, many of the
present people put on T-shirts with the inscription Freedom in Belarusian or Polish or held the issue of the Glos znad Niemna newspaper (with a large
photo of Pachobut on the front cover) to express their solidarity with the defendant.
Articles 367 and 368 are the “defamatory” articles. Several journalists have
been persecuted for “violating” them during the recent years. This trial is a
sign to all Belarusian journalists that any of them can be punished for writing
the truth about the socio-political situation in Belarus.
At 1.20 p.m. Judge Vital Liatsko announced a break in the trial. He dismissed
all motions stated by Andzhei Pachobut.
At 4.20 p.m. the judge postponed the trial to 17 June, on request of the
prosecutor who asked to be given some time to specify the accusation.
