Polish foreign ministry stands up for journalist imprisoned in Belarus

February 8, Pozirk. The Polish foreign ministry has declared freeing Andrej Pačobut a priority in a statement marking the anniversary since he was sentenced to prison in Belarus.
On February 8, 2023, Judge Dźmitryj Bubienčyk found the Polish minority activist and journalist guilty of inciting hatred and seeking to undermine national security, the charges human rights groups denounced as politically motivated.
The foreign ministry strongly protested against “using the Poles in Belarus as hostages.”
It called on Minsk to “respect international law and bilateral agreements concerning the protection of minority rights.”
It also demanded the release of all other political prisoners, noting that reprisals in Belarus have intensified after the “falsified elections” in 2020.
After Pačobut, aka Poczobut, received the eight-year sentence, Poland closed a key border checkpoint in Boborowniki (called Bierastavica on the Belarusian side) until further notice.
The reporter has not had “a single meeting, a single phone call or a single parcel” since authorities sent him to serve his sentence in Navapołack, his wife Aksana Pačobut said.
“They deprive him of absolutely everything,” she said, as quoted by the Belarusian Association of Journalists today.

Duda: diplomacy to free Polish prisoners in Belarus totally ineffective
- PoliticsRussia puts Belarusian journalist on wanted listThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics, SecurityMinsk ratifies classified info deal with MyanmarThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCall to free Belarus rights activistsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityBelarus region schedules alarm system testThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityCommanders pass fitness test on Łukašenka’s ordersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsViasna leadership arrest has not stopped human rights defense – lawyerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- EconomyBelarus’ money supply up 10 percent in H1 2025 – central bankThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Politics
- SocietyHarvester burns down in Hrodna region's fieldThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka says rational thinking to bridge divisions between Belarus and FranceThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Security, SocietyBelarus’ Military Academy to enroll more students this yearThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyConsumer demand to keep fuelling inflation in Belarus – EDBThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- SocietyLithuania intercepts €400,000 worth of smuggled cigarettes on cargo trainThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyJob openings exceed 216,000 in JulyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- PoliticsExiled folk-punk band branded extremist in BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+