A Belarusian court on Wednesday sentenced a journalist and leading member of the country’s sizable Polish minority to eight years in prison, amid an ongoing crackdown on critics of the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko.
Andrzej Poczobut, 49, was found guilty of harming Belarus’ national security and “inciting discord” in a closed-door trial in the western city of Grodno. Poczobut, a journalist for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a leading figure in the Union of Poles in Belarus, has been behind bars since his arrest in March 2021.
He reported extensively on the mass protests that gripped Belarus for weeks in 2020 following a presidential election that gave Lukashenko, in power since 1994, a new term but was seen as rigged by the opposition and Western countries.
The indictment against Poczobut cited his coverage of the protests, along with his statements in defense of ethnic Poles in Belarus and the reference to the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland as an act of “aggression”, as evidence that he was guilty. of the charges.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in a tweet on Wednesday condemned the “inhumane decision of the Belarusian regime” and vowed to “do everything possible to help the Polish journalist who is bravely fighting for the truth.”
TRIAL OPENS FOR POLISH JOURNALIST IN BELARUS ACCUSED OF HARMING NATIONAL SECURITY AND INCITING DISCORD
A spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry tweeted that Poczobut is “a Polish and Belarusian patriot.”
While independent journalists or Western diplomats were not allowed in the courtroom on Wednesday, official court photos showed Poczobut with dark circles under his eyes and suggested he had lost a lot of weight while in custody.
A banner with a photo of Belarusian-Polish journalist Andrzej Poczobut in the center of Bialystok, Poland, on January 21, 2023. Poczobut was sentenced to eight years in prison for “inciting discord” and harming the country’s national security. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Photos)
The journalist stayed in Belarus during the massive crackdown authorities launched in response to the protests, which saw more than 35,000 people arrested, thousands beaten by police and tens of thousands more fleeing abroad.
According to the prominent Belarusian rights group Viasna, Poczobut refused to sign a petition to be pardoned by Lukashenko after his arrest. Poczobut’s relatives said family visits were prohibited during his detention and he has not been able to receive letters from his 12-year-old son.
5 JOURNALISTS OF BELARUS’ MAIN INDEPENDENT NEWS MEDIUM ABOUT THE TRIAL IN THE COUNTRY’S CAPITAL
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in a Twitter post on Wednesday described the verdict against Poczobut as a “personal revenge” for Lukashenko.
“Andrzej rejected any deal with the illegal regime. Now we must do everything possible to free him along with all the other political hostages,” he wrote.
Viasna, the rights group, has included Poczobut in its list of 1,449 political prisoners being held by Minsk.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) issued a statement on Wednesday demanding Poczobut’s immediate release.
“There are strong measures against any dissent in Belarus, and the verdict against Poczobut confirms that the authorities have no intention of stopping the (cycle) of repression,” BAJ leader Andrei Bastunets was quoted as saying.
