Trial of Polish journalist Andrzej Poczobut continues in Belarus

The trial in Belarus of Polish minority activist and journalist Andrzej Poczobut is continuing, though the hearing has been moved to a local district court, according to PAP.

The trial in which Poczobut is charged with instigating hatred on religious and national grounds and rehabilitating Nazism, began on January 16 in Grodno Western Belarus Poczobut, a well-known journalist and long-time correspondent for Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza daily. He is also an activist for the Union of Poles in Belarus ZPB, a Polish minority organisation that has been delegalised by the Belarusian authorities.

Poczobut was arrested on March 25, 2021, and has been incarcerated in a Belarusian prison.

The trial took place on Thursday in Akciabrski southern Belarus -- PAP district court, PAP was told by phone at the Grodno circuit court. The circuit court building has limited space, so the change of location was due to that.

There is no more information about the trial as it is being held in secret, through a decision of the presiding judge. As a result, neither the media nor friends and family of the accused are allowed in the court and the defence lawyer is not allowed to make public statements. The hearings were also held on January 25 and 26. There will be further hearings according to the judge's decisions, but they will probably occur daily.

Poczobut's trial was postponed twice, originally scheduled for November 28 and later January 9.