Belarus Journalists' Trial Off To Rocky Start

By: (AP) The trial of two Belarusian journalists accused of slandering the nation's autocratic president Alexander Lukashenko got off to a rocky start Wednesday after a group of burly men with shaved heads took up many of the seats in the courtroom reserved for the media.

One of the accused journalists, Nikolai Markevich, said he recognized some of the men as police officers and requested that the judge move the trial to a larger courtroom to accommodate everyone who wanted to attend the trial, including several journalists and observers barred entry because of the room's small size.

The judge denied the request. The men's identities remained unclear.

Markevich, chief editor of the Pahonia (Pursuit) newspaper, and Pahonia reporter Pavel Mozheiko were charged in February and face five years in prison if convicted. Their supporters insist the slander charges were political retaliation for articles questioning whether Lukashenko played a role in the disappearances of opposition figures. The newspaper was shut down last year.

Mozheiko requested that he be allowed to hire a new lawyer, and that the judge in the case be replaced. The judge turned down both requests. Both defendants wore shirts emblazoned with the words "I'm a journalist, not a criminal."

The trial, in the western city of Grodno, has attracted the attention of Western diplomats and international human rights representatives in Belarus, many of whom call the charges a further blow to Belarus' struggling independent media. Lukashenko has suppressed opposition and persecuted independent media in his former Soviet republic.