{"id":204687,"date":"2026-09-22T11:48:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204687\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T11:48:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:48:35","slug":"pacobut-set-to-return-to-belarus-permanently","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/204687\/","title":{"rendered":"Pa\u010dobut set to return to Belarus permanently"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (TVP video \/ Still by Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

September 22, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarusian dissident journalist and prominent Polish minority activist Andrej Pa\u010dobut (Andrzej Poczobut) announced his intentions to return to Belarus permanently in his recent interview with TVP<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, Pa\u010dobut travelled to Belarus for a week, where he reportedly visited his home city of Hrodna and met with Polish minority activists.\u00a0On September 15, the activist left for Poland, defying predictions that he would be re-arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pa\u010dobut, known as a contributor to\u00a0Gazeta Wyborcza<\/em>, was arrested in March 2021 as part of a crackdown on the unofficial Union of Poles in Belarus. He was given eight years in prison for allegedly inciting hatred and calling for sanctions in a case widely seen as politically motivated. Authorities freed Pa\u010dobut on April 28 and deported him to Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dissident has repeatedly said that being able to return to Belarus was one of the key conditions of his agreeing to leave the country after his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with TVP<\/em>, Pa\u010dobut said he does not know \u201chow the Belarusian authorities will act\u201d should he try to enter Belarus again. \u201cI think that even the Belarusian authorities themselves do not fully know how they will act, because the situation is dynamic,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked whether he feared his future activities in Belarus could lead to his return to prison, the former prisoner said that \u201cone can never rule out the worst-case scenario,\u201d but added that \u201cthere is reason to believe that things will not necessarily develop in the direction of increased repression and a worsening of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka is interested in economic cooperation with the West, which compels him to show understanding or pay closer attention to issues important to the West, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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