Amnesty International named Poczobut as prisoner of conscience

International human rights organization demanded the release of the journalist.

A journalist, Andrzej Poczobut, is at risk of being sentenced to five years imprisonment in Belarus after being arrested for criticizing the Belarusian President. He is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression.

Andrzej Poczobut, the correspondent of Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a prominent Polish-Belarusian minority activist, was arrested on 21 June in his apartment in Grodno, western Belarus. He is accused of  “libelling the President” under Article 367 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus for articles that were published in Belarusian independent media, although he has not been formally charged. He could face a sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment.

In his articles, Andrzej Poczobut criticized the process and decision in the criminal case of Uladzislau Kavalyou and Dzmitry Kanavalau, who were executed in March 2012 in connection with a series of bomb attacks in Belarus. He also criticized President Lukashenka’s stance towards the European Union and the Belarusian authorities’ response to a wave of “silent protests” in the country. On 21 June, his apartment was searched and his computer and documents were confiscated.

In March 2011, Andrzej Poczobut was charged with “insulting the President” and “libelling the President” for articles that he had written for the Gazeta Wyborcza. On 5 July 2011, he received a three-year suspended prison sentence.

Amnesty International believes that Andrzej Poczobut’s arrest is part of a longstanding pattern of harassment of civil society activists and journalists by the Belarusian authorities. Following the Presidential elections in December 2010, there has been an unprecedented deterioration in the human rights situation in the country. Key opposition figures have been detained, ill-treated and convicted in unfair trials. Critical NGOs, civil society activists and journalists face continuing harassment.