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“Sentenced but free”, headlines Gazeta Wyborcza after a court in Grodno announced a ruling on the case of Andrzej Poczobut, the Warsaw daily’s correspondent in Belarus and activist of the country’s Polish community. Poczobut has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment suspended for two years for defaming President Alexander Lukashenko, whom he had called a “dictator” and accused of rigging the presidential elections. “The suspended sentence is aimed at gagging independent journalists in Belarus”, comments Gazeta, but points out that Poczobut has stressed he will not be intimidated and will continue defending his views, including before the UN Human Rights Committee. The Warsaw liberal daily stresses in its editorial that its correspondent has actually “won because he was not alone”, his release from jail having been demanded by, among others, EU foreign minister Catherine Ashton, European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek, and even US President Barack Obama. “Even a dictatorship eventually backs down when those fighting for freedom show solidarity”, concludes Gazeta.
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