Trial Over “Pagonya” Correspondents Underway in Grodno :: Charter'97 :: News

Hearings on the criminal case of the former editor-in-chief of the closed Grodno newspaper “Pagonya” Nikolai Markevich and journalist Pavel Mozheiko over libel charges will resume today on June 18 in the Leninsky district court of Grodno.

As you know, legal action was instituted against Markevich and Mozheiko by the Grodno region procuracy for alleged libeling the incumbent. The journalists may get up to 5 years of jail as a result. At the last court hearings on June 13 they finished investigation procedures.

Grodno university professor Ivan Lepeshev testified that “Pagonya” publications contained no libelous statements about Alexander Lukashenko. The expert conclusions were signed by him and two other professors. Lawyer Sergei Tsurko again petitioned the court with a proposal to cancel the Supreme Economic Court’s decision on the newspaper’s shutdown. However, judge Tatyana Klimova declined to satisfy the plea, as far as the SEC’s ruling saw light already after the institution of legal action against Markevich and Mozheiko. Therefore, the investigation process is over and June 18 will see the start of debates.