Polish Foreign Minister Maciej Wewiór clarified that Belarus released 123 political prisoners on Dec. 13, including Nobel laureate Bialacki, but not journalist Andrzej Poczobut, on X.
Poland’s FM: Poczobut Absent from Belarusian Release
Polish Foreign Minister Maciej Wewiór announced on television that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko had freed 123 political prisoners on Saturday, December 13. Among those released were Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialacki and activist Maryja Kalesnikava. Wewiór confirmed that journalist and activist Andrzej Poczobut was not among the freed individuals. On the social media platform X, he noted the positive significance of a Polish citizen—and Bialacki—reclaiming freedom. He also said that, “Together with partners, we are steadfastly working for Poczobut’s release.”
US Embassy Reports Nine Released Prisoners Headed to Lithuania
The U.S. Embassy in Vilnius stated that nine of the 123 released prisoners are traveling to Lithuania. Ales Bialacki, the Nobel laureate, is among them. The remaining released individuals were returned to Ukraine. This development highlights the dispersion of freed prisoners across neighboring countries.
Andrzej Poczobut’s Five-Year Detention in Belarus
Journalist and Polish minority activist Andrzej Poczobut was arrested in March 2021. The Lukashenko regime charged him with inciting hatred along ethnic, religious, and social lines, and with calling for actions harmful to Belarus. On February 8, 2023, a court in Grodno sentenced him to eight years in a strict regime penal colony for alleged “spreading of social hatred” and “terrorist activity.” The Polish Sejm has adopted resolutions demanding that the Belarusian regime cease repression against Poczobut, Angelica Borys, and other political prisoners, and solidarity protests have been organized in several European countries.
