{"id":187321,"date":"2026-05-13T14:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/187321\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:42:49","slug":"pacobut-says-he-was-pardoned-without-seeking-clemency","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/187321\/","title":{"rendered":"Pa\u010dobut says he was pardoned without seeking clemency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (rmf24.pl \/ Still by Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

May 13, <\/strong>Pozirk.<\/strong> <\/em>Journalist and Polish minority activist Andrej Pa\u010dobut (Andrzej Pochobut), who was released on April 28, has told Polish RMF<\/em> that he had been formally pardoned despite never submitting a request for clemency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike most former released dissidents taken out of Belarus, Pa\u010dobut was allowed to keep his\u00a0 Belarusian passport. The journalist said he was informed of the pardon before his release. \u201cThis procedure was even recorded [by representatives of the services], who read [Alaksandar] \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s order to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pa\u010dobut reaffirmed his intentions to return to Belarus. \u201cThere are no grounds to throw me in jail,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk freed Pa\u010dobut on April 28 and handed him over to Poland. The journalist, also known as a contributor to Gazeta Wyborcza<\/em>, had been held in custody since March 2021. In February 2023, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced him to eight years in prison after Judge D\u017amitryj Bubien\u010dyk found him guilty of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions. Human rights defenders considered him a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His release came after John Coale, the US special envoy for Belarus, met Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Foreign Minister Rados\u0142aw Sikorski in Warsaw on April 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk also liberated Polish monk Grzegorz Gawe\u0142 and Polish national Tomasz Bieroza as part of a five-for-five exchange at the Belarusian-Polish border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poland released Aleksandr Butyagin, a Russian archaeologist arrested at Ukraine\u2019s request over excavations in annexed Crimea. Moldova released Alexandru B\u0103lan, a former deputy chief of Moldova\u2019s Intelligence and Security Service, who had been sentenced earlier this month to 18 months in prison for allegedly leaking secret information related to Romania to officers of Belarus\u2019 KGB. Poland also handed over Nina Popova, a Russian citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warsaw additionally freed U\u0142adzis\u0142a\u016d Nadziejka, a former member of Paspalitaje Ru\u0161enne, an organization that provided weapons handling and fitness training for exiled Belarusians. He was arrested in Bia\u0142ystok and accused by Polish investigators of spying for Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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