{"id":127349,"date":"2025-02-22T00:58:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T21:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127349\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"pen-international-calls-on-belarus-to-release-journalist-poczobut","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/127349\/","title":{"rendered":"PEN International calls on Belarus to release journalist Poczobut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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February 22, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> PEN International, a literary and freedom of expression association, has called<\/a> for the immediate release of Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut (Andrej Pa\u010dobut).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPoczobut, a voice for the silenced, is paying a devastating price for his unwavering commitment to truth and justice,\u201d said Urtzi Urrutikoetxea, chair of the association\u2019s linguistic rights committee. \u201cLocked away, deprived of the very freedoms he seeks to protect, his persecution is a chilling reminder of the lengths to which the Belarusian authorities will go to crush dissent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PEN International expressed solidarity with the journalist and all those unjustly imprisoned. \u201cNo one should be punished for speaking out,\u201d Urrutikoetxea stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPoczobut\u2019s case is emblematic of the type of oppression experienced by writers and journalists who speak up for the rights of oppressed minorities. PEN International calls for his immediate release, as well as the provision of adequate healthcare pending his release,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poczobut, a correspondent for Gazeta Wyborcza<\/em> and a Polish minority activist in Belarus, was sentenced to eight years in prison in February 2023, prompting Poland to indefinitely close one of its border checkpoints with the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian ruler Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka claimed that Warsaw has abandoned Poczobut and that the journalist does not wish to go to Poland. Despite this, Polish officials, including Foreign Minister Rados\u0142aw Sikorski and President Andrzej Duda, have been working through various channels to secure Poczobut’s release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Polish interior minister rules out checkpoint reopening<\/h3>\n
January 13, Pozirk. Polish-Belarusian border security is crucial for Schengen area security, Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak told reporters in Bia\u0142ystok. The minister announced that the European commissioner for internal affairs and migration, Magnus Brunner, accepted an invitation to visit …<\/div>\n \n