{"id":101974,"date":"2024-08-25T15:53:28","date_gmt":"2024-08-25T12:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/101974\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"polish-president-says-warsaw-sees-signals-from-minsk-in-poczobuts-case","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/101974\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish president says Warsaw sees signals from Minsk in Poczobut’s case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Andrzej Duda's press office)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

August 25, Pozirk<\/em>. <\/strong>Warsaw perceives some signals from Minsk regarding the release of Andrzej Poczobut (Andrej Pa\u010dobut), a journalist and Polish minority activist imprisoned in Belarus on charges widely seen as politically motivated, Polish President Andrzej Duda told Kana\u0142 Zero<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duda linked his visit to China two months ago to a “thaw” in relations with Minsk as recent Alaksandar \u0141ukasenka’s decision to pardon dozens of Belarusian political prisoners may be a part of a dialogue encouraged by Beijing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d the politician noted. Poczobut was arrested illegally and has the right to stay in Belarus as a free man, he stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gazeta Wyborcza<\/em> contributor Pa\u010dobut, also known as an activist of the unregistered Union of Poles in Belarus (UPB), has been in custody since March 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Poland closed the Bobrowniki checkpoint at the shared border with Belarus, linking its reopening to Poczobut\u2019s release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, the activist refused to petition \u0141uka\u0161enka for pardon. The Committee for State Security (KGB) put him on the list of \u201cpersons involved in terrorist activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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