{"id":202580,"date":"2026-09-05T22:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T19:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/202580\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T22:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T19:05:14","slug":"pacobut-set-to-return-to-belarus-despite-postponement-of-unofficial-union-of-poles-convention","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/202580\/","title":{"rendered":"Pa\u010dobut\u00a0set to return to Belarus despite postponement of \u201cunofficial\u201d Union of Poles\u2019 convention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Andrej Pa\u010dobut \n <\/div>\n \n
\n (senat.gov.pl)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

September 5, Pozirk<\/em>. <\/strong>Belarusian journalist and prominent Polish minority activist Andrej Pa\u010dobut (Andrzej Poczobut) said that he would return to Belarus despite the fact that the \u201cunofficial\u201d Union of Poles in Belarus has postponed its next convention, which was scheduled for September 13. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is due to logistical problems,\u201d he wrote on Facebook. \u201cThe convention should take place within six months.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pa\u010dobut stressed his own plans to go back to Hrodna remain unchanged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several days ago, Pa\u010dobut had a meeting with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican, announcing afterward that he had asked for the pontiff\u2019s blessing and would soon return to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Polish news agency PAP<\/em>, the former political prisoner, who was released and deported to Poland at the end of April, said that he had asked for a papal blessing for Belarus, for his family and for the Union of Poles in Belarus during a brief conversation following the general audience at the Vatican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pa\u010dobut said that he felt \u201can inner calm\u201d after the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 1, Polish Deputy Interior Minister Czes\u0142aw Mroczek warned that Pa\u010dobut would face a huge risk should he return to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His comment came a few days after Pa\u010dobut vowed to go back to Belarus despite the risk of politically-motivated persecution. Earlier Pa\u010dobut said that he would return no later than September. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrej Pa\u010dobut, known as a contributor to Gazeta Wyborcza<\/em>, was arrested in March 2021 on what was widely believed trumped-up charges. In February 2023, Judge D\u017amitryj Bubien\u010dyk of the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced him to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions. Human rights defenders recognized him as a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian authorities freed Pa\u010dobut on April 28, 2026 and deported him to Poland. The release came after John Coale, the US special envoy for Belarus, met with Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Foreign Minister Rados\u0142aw Sikorski in Warsaw on April 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 3, Nawrocki presented Pa\u010dobut with Poland\u2019s highest state award, the Order of the White Eagle. In 2025, the European Parliament granted him the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n \"\"