Polish Belarusian journalist and activist Andrzej Poczobut has returned to Belarus for a week long visit, nearly five months after he was released from prison and transferred to Poland as part of a prisoner exchange.
Poczobut, a member of Belarus’ Polish minority, crossed the Polish Belarusian border on Tuesday and travelled to his hometown of Grodno, according to Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, with which he has worked for many years.
The newspaper said Poczobut plans to meet his family and colleagues from the Union of Poles in Belarus during the visit.
Poczobut was arrested in March 2021 and sentenced in 2023 to eight years in prison on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and harming Belarusian national security. Poland condemned the charges as politically motivated and repeatedly called for his release.
He was freed and transferred to Poland in April as part of a prisoner exchange but had previously indicated that he wanted to return to Belarus.
Asked whether he was afraid of returning, Poczobut said he was scared but believed fear should not determine his decisions.
“I found myself in a situation anyone would fear. I’m scared too. But in life, you shouldn’t let fear guide you,” he told Gazeta Wyborcza.
Poczobut was awarded the European Parliament’s 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in absentia for what the parliament described as his fight for freedom of expression and Belarus’ democratic future.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lives in exile, praised his decision to return as an act of extraordinary courage. She said, however, that his visit should not be interpreted as evidence of a political thaw in Belarus.
“Arrests, criminal cases, searches and intimidation continue across the country,” Tsikhanouskaya said.
Belarus has faced sustained international criticism over its treatment of opposition figures, journalists and civil society activists under the government of longtime President Alexander Lukashenko.
Leave a comment