Belarus opens trial of journalist for prominent Polish paper

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus has opened the trial of a journalist and prominent member of the country’s sizable Polish minority. It was the latest in a series of court cases against critics of the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. Andrzej Poczobut faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted of the charges of harming national security and inciting discord. Poczobut is a journalist for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a top figure in the Union of Poles in Belarus. He has been behind bars since his detention in March 2021. He widely covered the protests that gripped Belarus for weeks in 2020 following a presidential election that gave Lukashenko a new term in office. The vote was widely regarded as fraudulent. The trial opened on Monday.