The Polish Foreign Ministry has once again called on Minsk to release journalist Andrzej Poczobut, whose trial began on Monday
WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2023) The Polish Foreign Ministry has once again called on Minsk to release journalist Andrzej Poczobut, whose trial began on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the Grodno regional court started hearing behind closed doors a criminal case against Poczobut, an activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus (ZPB), a group not recognized by the Belarusian authorities. According to the court, he is accused of inciting racial, national and religious hatred and other actions aimed at damaging the national security of Belarus. Poczobut faces up to 12 years in prison.
The foreign ministry said it "again calls on the Belarusian authorities to release Andrzej Poczobut and drop politically motivated charges against Andrzej Poczobut and Andzelika Borys."
According to the ministry's statement, the charges brought against Poczobut are "false and politically motivated."
"The arrest and trial of Andrzej Poczobut is another manifestation of the instrumental use of the justice system contrary to all democratic standards and one of the elements of the anti-Poland campaign conducted by the Belarusian authorities," the statement read.
In March 2021, the Belarusian authorities arrested ZPB leader Borys and sentenced her to 15 days in prison for violating rules for organizing mass events. The Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office then opened a criminal case against Borys and several other individuals for deliberate actions aimed at inciting ethnic hatred and the rehabilitation of Nazism. A year later, Borys was released but may still face charges. Poczobut was also arrested in March of that year and charged with inciting national hatred.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the individuals, who presented themselves as ZPB members, held several illegal mass events in Grodno and other Belarusian cities, attracting minors to honor the participants of anti-Soviet groups that were active during and after World War II, committing robberies and murders of the civilian population in Belarus.
In November 2022, the Belarusian prosecution initiated the liquidation of the legal entity that carried out the activities of the ZPB.
