A Belarusian court has sentenced Andrzej Poczobut – a journalist and leading figure in Belarus’s ethnic Polish community – to eight years in prison for “inciting hatred” and “the rehabilitation of Nazism”.
Poland’s prime minister condemned the verdict, calling it “an inhumane decision by the Belarusian regime and yet another example of Polish persecution in Belarus”, while the foreign ministry called for “an end to the actions against Poles in Belarus and immediate release of all political prisoners”.
Even before the trial, which began on 16 January, Poczobut had spent more than 460 days in custody, unable even to contact relatives by phone.
Belarusian-Polish journalist Andrzej Poczobut was sentenced to 8 years in prison for doing his job. This is Lukashenka's personal revenge. Andrzej refused any deals with the unlawful regime. Now we must do everything possible to free him along with all other political hostages. pic.twitter.com/hpfU0JJUvQ
— Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) February 8, 2023
The Belarusian authorities accused Andrzej Poczobut of “inciting hatred,” and his actions – involving the cultivation of Polish culture and the publication of historical articles – were characterised as “rehabilitation of Nazism.” He was also accused of calling for sanctions and acting against the interests of Belarus.
Poczobut was detained, along with three other Polish minority leaders, including Andżelika Borys, the head of the Union of Poles in Belarus (ZPB), in March 2021. Their arrests came as part of a wider clampdown on Belarus’s large ethnic Polish community after Poland supported the Belarusian opposition in the aftermath of the disputed presidential elections.
Whereas Borys was freed a year later, Poczobut remained in detention awaiting trial, despite calls from Poland’s government, the European Union and human rights groups for his release.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the Wednesday verdict “inhumane” and “yet another example of the persecution of Poles in Belarus…by the Belarusian regime”.
The Polish foreign ministry, in turn, described the conviction of the Polish journalist as “a clear testimony to the anti-Polish actions of the Belarusian authorities”.
“We condemn the unjust sentence handed down by the court of an authoritarian state,” added the ministry. “Andrzej Poczobut is a Polish and Belarusian patriot. We stand behind him.”
It accused Minsk of using “Poles living in Belarus as political hostages” and “called for the immediate and unconditional release of Andrzej Poczobut, as well as other activists of the Union of Poles”.
An 8 year prison sentence for Andrzej Poczobut. An inhumane decision by the Belarusian regime and yet another example of Polish persecution in Belarus. Let’s do everything to help the Polish journalist bravely fighting for the truth.
— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) February 8, 2023
In August, the foreign ministry summoned Belarus’s chargé d’affaires in response to the jailing of another journalist who worked for Polish state broadcaster TVP.
The souring relations between the two countries were exacerbated by a crisis on their border, where tens of thousands of people, mainly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, attempted to cross into Poland with the help and encouragement of the Belarusian authorities.
The number of Belarusians with residence permits in Poland has more than doubled since 2020, as Poland has actively welcomed those fleeing repression in Belarus as well as seeking to attract professionals such as IT workers and doctors.
Main image: Bartosz Banka / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
