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Pačobut plans to return to Belarus in December
October 27, Pozirk. Belarusian dissident journalist and prominent Polish minority activist Andrej Pačobut (Andrzej Poczobut) has told Poland’s Rzeczpospolita that he plans to return to Belarus in December and settle there permanently.
“Of course, my family would like me to stay in Poland. My parents, too. At the same time, they understand my motives and know what kind of person I am,” he said.
In September, Pačobut spent a week in his hometown of Hrodna. He was allowed to return to Poland, defying predictions that he would be re-arrested.
Belarusian security officers visited his apartment in Hrodna shortly after his arrival, Pačobut told Rzeczpospolita. A police officer carrying a video camera reportedly asked him about his work and plans in Belarus.
Pačobut also said he could not own a cell phone in Belarus because he had been designated an “extremist” and a “terrorist.” He added that his old number, registered in his wife’s name, stopped working after he tried to recover it.
Commenting on Polish-Belarusian relations, Pačobut said a thaw was currently impossible but that the principle of “quid pro quo” could work in dealings with Alaksandar Łukašenka.
Pačobut, a contributor to Gazeta Wyborcza, was arrested in March 2021 as part of a crackdown on the unofficial Union of Poles in Belarus. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for allegedly inciting hatred and calling for sanctions in a case widely seen as politically motivated. On April 28, authorities transferred him to Poland as part of a five-for-five prisoner exchange.
The dissident has repeatedly said that the ability to return to Belarus was one of the key conditions he set when agreeing to leave the country after his release.
Polish foreign minister notes “slight thaw” in relations with Minsk
September 30, Pozirk. There has been “slight thaw” in relations with Minsk, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said in an interview with Rzeczpospolita. The warming is due to the fulfillment of Warsaw’s conditions, including the release of Polish minority activist …