Belarus: journalist detained for allegedly slandering president

June 22nd, 2012

Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut was detained last night for allegedly insulting the country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko. Poczobut writes for Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, and now faces up to five years in prison. According to his wife, police raided the couple’s apartment, and confiscated the journalist’s computer. Last year, Poczobut was handed a suspended sentence for articles he wrote against Lukashenko. Officers reportedly told his wife that they would “not leave him alone” if he continues to criticise the president.

Belarus: Top journalist ‘barred from leaving Belarus’

September 28th, 2011

A journalist who was found guilty of defamation in Belarus has been barred from leaving the country. Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish-Belarusian journalist who writes for top daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, was found guilty of defaming President Alexander Lukashenko in July, and was given a three-year suspended sentence. Poczobut claims he was recently summoned to a police station in  Homel, where he was instructed that as a convict he has no right to travel abroad. Poczobut wrote in his blog regarding the travel ban: “That is not mentioned either in my verdict or in the Criminal Code.”