August 25, Pozirk. Warsaw perceives some signals from Minsk regarding the release of Andrzej Poczobut (Andrej Pačobut), a journalist and Polish minority activist imprisoned in Belarus on charges widely seen as politically motivated, Polish President Andrzej Duda told Kanał Zero.
“I think we are much closer [to Poczobut’s release]. . . We are working very hard, and I see signs of change on the other side,” he noted.
Duda linked his visit to China two months ago to a “thaw” in relations with Minsk as recent Alaksandar Łukasenka’s decision to pardon dozens of Belarusian political prisoners may be a part of a dialogue encouraged by Beijing.
Warsaw decided against blocking the prisoner swap between the United States and Russia earlier this month to avoid issues in Poczobut’s case, Duda added.
“I don’t know whether he would have wanted to be exchanged for spies without the possibility to return to Belarus and to be with his family,” the politician noted. Poczobut was arrested illegally and has the right to stay in Belarus as a free man, he stressed.
Gazeta Wyborcza contributor Pačobut, also known as an activist of the unregistered Union of Poles in Belarus (UPB), has been in custody since March 2021.
In February 2023, authorities sentenced him to eight years in prison on charges of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions that harmed the national security of Belarus.
In response, Poland closed the Bobrowniki checkpoint at the shared border with Belarus, linking its reopening to Poczobut’s release.
In 2022, the activist refused to petition Łukašenka for pardon. The Committee for State Security (KGB) put him on the list of “persons involved in terrorist activities.”
