The trial of activist Andrzej Poczobut has opened in Belarus with the prominent member of the Polish-Belarusian community facing up to 12 years in prison for criticizing strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime.
According to a family member, a couple of close relatives and a few activists were allowed to attend the trial on January 16, while some crowded into a nearby corridor. Later, at the request of the prosecutor, the hearing was closed and those inside the court room were moved to the corridor.
Poczobut, who is also a correspondent for the respected Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, was arrested in March 2021 amid rising tensions between Minsk and Warsaw following the brutal suppression of mass protests against Lukashenka after he claimed a landslide victory in a 2020 presidential election.
The Crisis In Belarus
Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
The Belarusian opposition claimed the election was rigged in favor of Lukashenka, who has been in power since 1994.
Relations between Poland and Belarus worsened further after a migrant crisis on their shared border at the end of 2021 that Warsaw blamed on Minsk, and after Lukashenka allowed Moscow to use its territory as a launching pad for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The EU, the United States, and other countries have imposed sanctions against Lukashenka's regime following the crackdown on protesters.
Poczobut, 49, is accused of "calling for actions aimed at harming national security" as well as inciting hatred. He is being tried in the western city of Hrodno, near the Polish border.
The Vyasna rights group has included Poczobut on its list of 1,440 political prisoners in Belarus.
The Polish Foreign Ministry said that its charge d'affaires was refused access to the courtroom for the trial.
"The Polish charge d'affaires in Minsk, Marcin Wojciechowski, was not let into the courtroom," Lukasz Jasina, spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry, said on Twitter.
Poland has demanded Poczobut's release.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Piotr Wawrzyk told Polish radio on January 16 that Poczobut "did not commit any crime and the charges against him have nothing to do with reality."
Poland, along with most of Europe and many other countries around the world, has criticized Lukashenka, and has provided sanctuary for Belarusian opposition leaders and activists.
With most independent media shut down in Belarus, Poland has become an alternative work site for many Belarusian journalists as they try to cover events in their native country.
