Andrzej Poczobut
Encyclopedia
Andrzej Poczobut is a Belarusian and Polish journalist and activist of the Polish minority in Belarus
. He lives in Hrodna
, Belarus
.
He worked as a journalist for several Belarusian media - Den', Narodnaja Volia
, Głos znad Niemna and Magazyn Polski.
He currently works for the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza
.
He is one of the leaders of the Union of Poles in Belarus
.
In late 2010/early 2011 he was arrested twice by Belarusian authorities. The charges were "participation in the unsanctioned protest rally". The first time he was fined, the second time, he got 15 days in jail. Andrzej has argued that he was acting as a journalist during the rally. The KGB also raided his house and confiscated his computer and documents. Jerzy Buzek
, president of the European Parliament
, demanded his release.
Poczobut's treatment was part of the Belarus authorities crackdown on journalists after the massive street protests against the 2010 Belarusian presidential elections.
In March 2011 the Belarusian government told him that if he doesn't stop reporting on the administration of Alexander Lukashenko
, he will be prosecuted. His 'accreditation' from the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs was revoked. He has argued that his work is protected by his constitutional rights. In April, Amnesty International
denounced Poczobut's prosecution and imprisonment and named him a prisoner of conscience
. The Committee to Protect Journalists
also protested his arrest.
Polish minority in Belarus
The Polish minority in Belarus numbers officially about 294,549 according to 2009 census. It forms the second largest ethnic minority in the country after the Russians, at 3,1% of the total population. An estimated 180,905 Polish Belarusians live in large agglomerations and 113,644 in smaller...
. He lives in Hrodna
Hrodna
Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
.
He worked as a journalist for several Belarusian media - Den', Narodnaja Volia
Narodnaja Volya (newspaper)
Narodnaja Volya is an independent newspaper founded by Iosif Seredich and originally printed in Vilnius . Its circulation is 55,000. Since November 1997, printing was moved to Minsk in the private publishing house "Magic". It became Belarus' largest independent newspaper.Seredich was the...
, Głos znad Niemna and Magazyn Polski.
He currently works for the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...
.
He is one of the leaders of the Union of Poles in Belarus
Union of Poles in Belarus
The Union of Poles in Belarus is an organization located in the Eastern European country of Belarus. The group, which has a membership of 20,000 people, represents the Polish minority in Belarus, numbering about 400,000, as per official data .Lately, the group has received international attention...
.
In late 2010/early 2011 he was arrested twice by Belarusian authorities. The charges were "participation in the unsanctioned protest rally". The first time he was fined, the second time, he got 15 days in jail. Andrzej has argued that he was acting as a journalist during the rally. The KGB also raided his house and confiscated his computer and documents. Jerzy Buzek
Jerzy Buzek
Jerzy Karol Buzek is a Polish engineer, academic lecturer and politician who was the ninth post-Cold War Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001...
, president of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, demanded his release.
Poczobut's treatment was part of the Belarus authorities crackdown on journalists after the massive street protests against the 2010 Belarusian presidential elections.
In March 2011 the Belarusian government told him that if he doesn't stop reporting on the administration of Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been serving as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm. Under Lukashenko's rule, Belarus has come to be viewed as a state whose conduct is out of line...
, he will be prosecuted. His 'accreditation' from the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs was revoked. He has argued that his work is protected by his constitutional rights. In April, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
denounced Poczobut's prosecution and imprisonment and named him a prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience
Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...
. The Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
also protested his arrest.
See Also
- Aleksandr Otroschenkov
- Crackdown after the 2010 Belarus election
- Charter 97Charter 97Charter 97 is a declaration calling for democracy in Belarus and a human rights group taking its inspiration from the declaration.The document - whose title deliberately echoes the Czechoslovak human rights declaration Charter 77 twenty years earlier - was created on the anniversary of a referendum...