Andrzej Pochobut released under his own recognizance

The journalist of Gazeta Wyborcza has been let off form Hrodna prison today, on June 30.

“They came to my cell and told me to pack my belongings because they were going to put me into another cell. But then they simply led me out of prison", - Pochobut said.

The journalist thinks that the Belarusian authorities wanted to demonstrate how easily they could do away with any dissidence by jailing him: "I think that this short imprisonment was an attempt to show me that they could do anything they wanted. Some sort of demonstration of power. But I am a law-abiding citizen, all my comments illustrate my personal position and do not violate the Belarusian legislation. The authorities exercise pressure on independent journalists. This 10-day imprisonment is a good example of it. On the other hand, somebody probably wanted to solve some problems on the external political arena by jailing me. But I can only guess because I refused to give evidence and did not talk to investigators".

The journalist has also informed Euroradio that the results of a linguistic expertise of his articles published atcharter97.org and "Belarusian Partisan" have been shown to him today. "They were even more harsh than last year", - says Pochobut. - They include an insult of the state leader and discrimination of the Republic of Belarus. A full kit".

Pochobut has been released under his own recognizance. He will be free during the investigation.

Let us remind you that Andrzej Pochobut was arrested on June 21. A criminal case was started against him according to article 367, p.2 of the Criminal Code - slandering the President by a person previously convicted for slander or insult.

According to the Criminal Code, the journalist's liberty may be restricted for 5 years or he may be imprisoned for this term.