Hrodna: journalist Andrei Pachobut imprisoned
Andrei Pachobut, a
journalist with Gazeta Wyborcza, is
imprisoned in the temporary detention facility at the Kastrychnitski District Police
Department of Hrodna, where he had been placed at night. The measure of
restraint for him has been changed.
The journalist was detained on the way to Minsk,
where he intended to take part in an online conference with the mission of the
European Commission with the delegation of the European Parliament concerning Belarus. He was
to have spoken about the criminal case that had been brought against him for
articles in Gazeta Wyborcza and his
private blog. Mr. Pachobut is suspected in insult of the president of the Republic of Belarus, Article 368 of the Criminal
Code. He faces up to two years in prison.
Andrei Pachobut’s colleague, who is also a member of the opposition Union of
Poles in Belarus, Ihar Bantsar, who drove Andrei
to Minsk
yesterday, informed RFE/RL about the
details of the arrest. First their car was stopped in Hrodna, they were told to
go to the Hrodna Region Procuracy. The investigator read out a decree: Pachobut
cannot leave the city. Andrei refused to sign the written undertaking not to
leave the place. He explained that the aim of his trip was related to his work,
and that he was going to Minsk.
Ihar Bantsar says after that they left the building of the procuracy and left
for Minsk.
They were detained near
Skidzel next time. They managed to travel only 30 kilometers away.
Andrei was told that he had violated the written pledge not to leave town, and
the measure of pre-trial restraint would be changed for him. After that the
journalist was taken to the procuracy and lawyer Aliaksandr Birylau arrived
there. Andrei Pachobut was informed that the measure of restraint had been
changed form release on recognizance to arrest, and he was placed to the
temporary detention facility at night.
On 7 April the journalist’s wife, Aksana Pachobut, was summoned today to the
Hrodna Region Procuracy by major crimes investigator Arsen Nikolski in
connection with the criminal case against her husband. However, the woman
refused to testify against her husband, referring to the appropriate article of
the Constitution.
