Andrei Pachobut’s trial to continue on June 23
10.35. The hearing will be resumed on June 23 at 10 a.m.
It has become known that the experts have expanded their conclusion about Pochobut’s articles. The charges used to be listed on two pages and now they take 5. They have given a more detailed explanation of the things that insulted Lukashenka in those articles.
Andrzej Pochobut has made a motion to give him 5 days to study the expanded charges. The judge has granted the motion.
Euroradio has phoned Anzhalika Arehva who was near the building of Lenin District Court.
10.15. “The lawyer says that the hearing may finish quickly today, in an hour or two”, - said Andrzej’s wife Aksana Pochobut in a live interview with Euroradio.
According to Aksana, she tried talking to the judge to ask for permission to meet her husband. But the judge did not allow it. Aksana Pochobut had been waiting for him in the corridor until he appeared. “If you want a meeting, it will not happen”, -he said right away. “When are you going to finish the trial?”, - she wondered. The judge replied: “Decide all issues with the lawyer”. Then he closed the door.
Aksana Pochubut says that she sent medicines to Andrzej the day before yesterday because he was ill. She has got to know that he was “in a battle mood”.
"He is not afraid of a heavy sentence so he is in a good mood”, - says Aksana.
10.10. Hrodna State TV journalists are making videos of the people present near the building of the court. A man in plain clothes is also making a video of the people’s faces.
10.05. There are about 30 people near Hrodna Lenin District Court: Andrzej Pochobut’s relatives, friends and journalists.
Policemen are checking the documents of people with photo and video cameras and are asking if they are allowed to take pictures.
Head of the Union of Poles not recognized by the Belarusian authorities Anzhalika Arehva has managed to approach the court with her daughter today. Let us remind you that she was “under house arrest” on June 14 and did not manage to come. He husband, journalist Ihar Bantsar, was detained on June 14 and sentenced to 5 days of detention the following day.
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Journalist of “Gazeta Wyborcza” Andrzej Pochobut will continue standing trial in Hrodna Lenin District Court today. The hearing will also be closed (the same as the previous hearing that took place on June 14, even the defendant’s relatives will not be allowed to attend it. The Regional Office of the Public Prosecutor applied for a closed hearing.
The judge explained the necessity of postponing the hearing until today by the fact that he needed “to specify the accusation”.
Let us remind you that Pochobut is accused of libel and insult of the Belarusian leader. The Office of the Public Prosecutor found reasons for it in articles of “Gazeta Wyborcza” – in Pochobut’s column in the website “Belarusian Partisan” and in a note on LiveJournal. The journalist is facing up to four years of imprisonment.
