EU demands to release Andrej Poczobut

Catherine Ashton, the diplomatic head of the European Union, has expressed “deep concern” over the extension of the period of detention in custody in Belarus of a correspondent of Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland) Andrzej Poczobut.

As it was informed the day before, the journalist is to stay in a Belarusian prison until the trial.

In late March a criminal case was initiated against Poczobut on charges relating insult of Lukashenka. On Wednesday, April 6, the journalist was detained by Belarusian special services in Hrodna, where he lived. He planned a trip t Minsk to take part in a TV link-up with deputies of the European Parliament.

On Friday Poczobut was charged with violation of Article 368 Part 1 (insult of the president). The punishment for insult of the president is up to two years, and for defamation – up to 4 years of imprisonment.

As said by Ashton, who had called upon the authorities of Belarus to stop persecution of independent journalists “on politically motivated charges”, keeping Poczobut in custody is “one more example of ongoing human rights violations.”

“The EU emphatically condemns persecution, arrests and intimidation of representatives of Belarusian independent mass media, as well as violations of fundamental human rights such as freedom of expression of opinions, freedom of assembly and mass media freedom,” the statement of Ashton received by RI Novosti on Sunday reads.

Poczobut worked as a correspondent of Gazeta Wyborcza in Belarus, but he was not accredited at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus. In 2009 the Foreign Minister deprived Poczobut of the accreditation as a foreign journalist, and did not issue accreditation to him anymore.

While he was at liberty, Poczobut informed that the case against him was initiated by the prosecutor’s office basing upon the materials of investigation carried out by the KGB directorate of Hrodna region.