{"id":184491,"date":"2026-04-22T14:28:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T11:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/184491\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T15:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:03:48","slug":"polands-senate-demands-release-of-journalist-andrej-pacobut","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/184491\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland\u2019s Senate demands release of journalist Andrej Pa\u010dobut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n Ale\u015b Bialacki speaking at the Polish senate\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Senate's post on X)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

April<\/strong> 22, <\/strong>Pozirk<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong>Poland\u2019s Senate has adopted, without reservations, a resolution demanding the release of journalist Andrzej Poczobut (Andrej Pa\u010dobut) from a Belarusian prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vote was timed to coincide with the 5th<\/sup> anniversary of his imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resolution calls on the Belarusian authorities to end repression, release all political prisoners and engage with the exiled opposition to restore peace and social stability in society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ale\u015b Bialacki, a Belarusian human rights advocate, visited the Senate during the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pa\u010dobut, a contributor to Gazeta Wyborcza<\/em>, has been in custody since March 2021. In February 2023, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced him to eight years in prison after Judge D\u017amitryj Bubien\u010dyk found him guilty of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions. Human rights defenders have recognized him as a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pa\u010dobut was arrested on March 25, 2021, when masked police raided his home in Hrodna. That same day, the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office announced criminal proceedings against him and other individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case was opened under Part Three of Article 130 of the Criminal Code, which penalizes incitement to racial, ethnic, religious, or other social hatred, as well as \u201cthe rehabilitation of Nazism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe individuals. . . organized and held a number of illegal mass events with the participation of under-18s in Hrodna and other localities in the region since 2018. These events aimed to honor members of anti-Soviet gangs active during and after the [1941\u20131945] Great Patriotic War, who committed robberies, murdered Belarusian civilians, and destroyed property. Their actions were intended to rehabilitate Nazism and justify the genocide of the Belarusian people,\u201d the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, prosecutors also accused Pa\u010dobut of calling for sanctions. In 2022, he refused to petition Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka for a pardon. The Committee for State Security (KGB) subsequently placed him on its list of \u201cpersons involved in terrorist activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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