December 16, Pozirk. “The absence of our father is something we have learned to live with but will never accept. We have not chosen this path, but we did choose daily faith in our father and in the fact that truth and dignity still mean something,” said Jana Pačobut (Poczobut) as she accepted her father’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on December 16 at the European Parliament.
Andrej Pačobut, a journalist and member of the Polish minority, is serving a lengthy sentence in Belarus for his criticism of the government.
“Your recognition cannot change the past, but it can give us something valuable for the future. We believe that justice and humanism still exist in the world,” she added.
Referring to the case of Mikalai Statkevich, a prominent member of the Belarusian opposition who disappeared in September 2025, she said, “When we speak (their) names out loud, they stop being statistics. They become real again. And that is why your attention, the attention of the European Parliament, matters so much. It preserves human dignity where everything else tries to erase it.”
EP President Roberta Metsola said: “I am proud to award this year’s Sakharov Prize to journalists Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaglobeli in recognition of their brave fight for freedom of expression and the democratic future of Belarus and Georgia. This House stands in solidarity with Mzia and Andrzej and calls for their immediate release from prison — because speaking truth to power must never be a crime.”
