OSCE media freedom representative welcomes acquittal of Belarusian journalist

WARSAW, 24 September 2013 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the decision by a court in Grodno in western Belarus to lift the restrictions imposed on the Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut.

“I welcome the court’s ruling to drop all charges against Poczobut and I hope that this was the last time a media worker faces criminal prosecution in Belarus because of his or her profession,” Mijatović said.

Mijatović has followed the case of Poczobut closely and has repeatedly raised it with the Belarusian authorities. During the Representative’s recent visit to Belarus she also met with Poczobut.

Poczobut, a journalist for Gazeta Wyborcza, received a three-year suspended prison sentence in 2011 for insulting the Belarusian president.

Mijatović is in Warsaw attending the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting.