Belarus court upholds eight-year sentence for journalist Pačobut

May 26, BPN. Belarus’ Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and eight-year prison sentence of journalist Andrej Pačobut.

Pačobut, who worked for Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza and was a prominent activist for the rights of ethnic Poles in Belarus, was found guilty of undermining national security in February by a regional court in the western city of Hrodna.

His case has strained relations between Belarus and Poland, which hosts many exiled Belarusian opposition activists and supports their pro-democracy movement. Poland closed a major border crossing with Belarus in protest and demanded his release.

Alaksandr Łukašenka, who has ruled the ex-Soviet nation with an iron fist for 29 years, rejected any concessions, but offered to swap Pačobut for Pavieł Łatuška, a former diplomat and culture minister who joined the opposition and fled to Poland after the 2020 presidential election.

Łatuška leads a group called the National Anti-Crisis Management (NAM), which seeks Łukašenka’s ouster.