Poczobut: Authorities did not want journalists to see brutal dispersal
The journalist was summoned to the penalty inspectorate on the eve of the picket organized by Polish activists in Hrodna.
Andrzej Poczobut says that they had a long conversation about passport information.
Poczobut: "They brought me to the head of Lenin District Department of the Interior. He was looking through my case papers and sentence for a long time… Then he pronounced an official warning about the inadmissibility of violating the legislation of the Republic of Belarus. They did not explain what the warning was connected with. They said: you were convicted according to this article and we have a reason to think that you are going to violate the legislation of the Republic of Belarus so we will pronounce an official warning to you. The Ministry of Internal Affairs uses the practice sometimes”.
Let us remind you that Poczobut was convicted for insult of the President. One warning has already been pronounced to him. However, this warning should not count because it is a preventive measure, says the journalist.
In Poczobut’s opinion, Hrodna authorities detained journalists to prevent them from covering the today’s action and its brutal dispersal. The journalist has noted that policemen treated participants of the Polish picket in a very severe way and even tore a flag of Poland.
Activists of the Polish minority have protested against the russification of the only Polish school in Hrodna today. About 20 people have been detained.
Photo by — svaboda.org
