EU

Europe speaks up for Poczobut

EU
Published on 13 May 2011

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“Europe for Poczobut” headlines Gazeta Wyborcza a day after the Warsaw daily’s Belarusian correspondent and Belarusian opposition activist Andrzej Poczobut was formally indicted for insulting and slandering President Alexander Lukashenko. Arrested 38 days ago, Poczobut faces up to four years in prison. Echoing EU foreign minister Catherine Ashton and European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek, MEPs have called on the Minsk regime to drop the charges and release him. The Belarusian authorities have so far refused to yield either to release Poczobut on bail or on a personal guarantee from 40 people. “Lawlessness dressed in prosecutor’s and judge’s robes remains lawlessness just the same… It is only more hypocritical and perverse”, concludes Gazeta Wyborcza’s leader.

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