September 17, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka seems to have shifted responsibility for his reluctance to release journalist and Polish minority activist Andrej Pačobut to a special government commission set up two years ago to handle requests from political emigrants for return to Belarus.
Speaking in Minsk, Łukašenka said he would gradually release prisoners. However, he advised officials to reach out to the commission even regarding cases where he could grant a pardon.
“What if [commission member and propagandist Andrej] Mukavozčyk says that he is a real bastard? Well, we’ll back off and say no, just like with Pačobut and others,” Łukašenka said.
In February 2023, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced the Gazeta Wyborcza journalist to eight years in prison for allegedly inciting hatred. Human rights activists declared him a political prisoner. Recently, the Polish media was disappointed to learn that Pačobut was not one of the prisoners released by Łukašenka under a deal with the Trump administration.
Belarus’ refusal to release the journalist has long been a source of tension in relation with Poland. Poland closed all checkpoints on the shared border with Belarus on September 12, citing risks posed by the Belarusian-Russian military exercise Zapad-2025, which began the same day and concluded on September 16. Observers believe that Pačobut’s imprisonment factored in.
Earlier, Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said that Warsaw would reopen the border only once officials were fully confident that Belarus does not pose a direct threat to Poland or its citizens.
The Belarusian State Customs Committee said on September 17 that 1,453 Polish-registered trucks stranded in Belarus, noting that the vehicles can exit only via the Belarusian-Polish section of the border.
