16 Jun 11 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Andrey Pochobut, a correspondent for the Polish newspaper GazetaWyborcza who stands accused of defamation and “insulting the president”, is facing a four-year prison sentence. The trial began yesterday in Leninski district court, Belarus, with journalists and family members excluded from proceedings. There are now serious concerns over whether Pochobut will receive a fair trial. The offending articles appeared on the Gazeta Wyborcza website, the Belaruspartisan.org site and in his personal blog. Pochobut would be the fourth journalist sent to prison on a charge of “insulting the president” if he is found guilty. The trial continues.
01 Jun 11 | Index Index, minipost
Russian reporter Rodion Marinichev was yesterday arrested, stripped of his press accreditation and given 24 hours to leave the Belarus. He has been banned from returning to the country for five years. The correspondent, from Russian television station Dozhd, was detained by police just hours after he interviewed Irina Khalip who is serving a two year suspended prison sentence. She is the a correspondent for Novaya Gazeta and the wife of Andrei Sannikov, a former presidential candidate who was recently given a five year prison sentence for “organising and preparing a public order disruption.”
23 May 11 | News and features
As Belarus’s Central Bank devalues the ruble, the European Union has expanded sanctions and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) invokes human rights mechanism. Mike Harris reports
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20 May 11 | Index Index, minipost
Two former presidential candidates, Vladimir Neklaev and Vytal Rymashevsky were sentenced today alongside a number of political activists, Serguey Voznyak, Andrei Dmitriev, Alexander Feduta and Nasta Polojanko. They were all detained after protests against the disputed re-election of Alexander Lukashenko on 19 December last year. All were put on probation, Neklaev, Rymashevsky, Voznyak, Feduta and Dmitriev for two years and Polojanka, who is just 20 years old, for one year. The sentence was handed down by Judge Janna Jukouskaya, who is currently subject to a European Union travel ban.
