May 11, Pozirk. US President Donald Trump acknowledged Alaksandar Łukašenka’s “cooperation and friendship,” which led to the release of journalist Andrej Pačobut (Andrzej Poczobut) from a Belarusian prison on April 28.
“Thanks to my Special Presidential Envoy, John Coale, we were able to push hard to make this release happen,” Trump said almost two weeks after the event in a TruthSocial post yesterday. ”Today, Poczobut is free due to our efforts.”
Minsk freed and handed over to Poland journalist and Polish minority activist Pačobut after Coale met Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw on April 27.
Belarusian authorities also liberated Polish monk Grzegorz Gaweł and Polish national Tomasz Bieroza as part of a five-for-five exchange at the Belarusian-Polish border.
Poland released Aleksandr Butyagin, a Russian archaeologist arrested at Ukraine’s request over excavations in annexed Crimea. Moldova released Alexandru Bălan, a former deputy chief of Moldova’s 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’ KGB. Poland also handed over Nina Popova, a Russian citizen.
Poland additionally freed Uładzisłaŭ Nadziejka, a former member of Paspalitaje Rušenne, an organization that provided weapons-handling and fitness training for exiled Belarusians. He was arrested in Białystok and accused by Polish investigators of spying for Belarus.
The identities of the remaining exchanged individuals have not been disclosed. The Polish prime minister described one of them as a Belarusian who had cooperated with Poland’s security services.
