Polish minority leader cleared of “hatred” and “Nazism” charges in Belarus

Apr 4, 2023 | Law, Politics

Andżelika Borys, the head of the main body representing Belarus’s large ethnic Polish community, has been cleared of the charges she was facing for “inciting hatred” and the “rehabilitation of Nazism”.

She was one of a number of leading figures from the Union of Poles in Belarus (ZPB) detained in 2021 as part of a clampdown by the Belarusian authorities on the country’s Polish minority. Both Poland and the European Union condemned the arrests and called for the prisoners’ release.

Today, Poland’s foreign ministry minister spokesman, Łukasz Jasina, announced that Borys has been “cleared of false allegations” against her. Belsat, a Polish-based Belarusian broadcaster, reports that Borys’s mother was informed that the case had been discontinued “due to the absence of signs of a crime”.

“This is the first good news from Minsk in a long time,” wrote Jasina in a statement, expressing hope that it marks a change in the attitude of Belarus authorities towards Poles and “a willingness to engage in constructive dialogue on bilateral issues”.

“We hope that similar decisions will also be made regarding Andrzej Poczobut and other prisoners,” he added. Poczobut, a journalist and another leading figure in the ZPB, was sentenced earlier this year to eight years in prison for “inciting hatred”.

“We won’t forget about you!” wrote Jasina today.

Borys was detained in Grodno in March 2021, initially for organising a cultural event that the authorities deemed illegal. She was sentenced to 15 days in jail, but before being released further charges were brought against her.

For her work in the Polish community, she was charged with inciting national and religious hatred and sowing discord on the grounds of national, religious and linguistic affiliation.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Borys was alleged to have acted for the “rehabilitation of Nazism”, a crime punishable by imprisonment of five to 12 years. Unlike Poczobut, however, Borys was released from detention in March 2022 but remained under house arrest.

Since a wave of protests emerged against Lukashenko’s proclaimed election victory in 2020, Poland has been among the leading international supporters of the Belarusian democratic opposition.

Meanwhile, Belarus has taken a number of repressive measures against its Polish community, which is around 300,000 strong according to official estimates but which Poland’s foreign ministry claims may number over a million.

As well as the detention of ethnic Polish leaders, a Polish war cemetery was demolished and, most recently, a historic mural was painted over in a Polish church.

The Belarusian authorities have also orchestrated a crisis on the border with Poland, where they have helped tens of thousands of people – mainly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa – try to cross illegally into the European Union.

Main image credit: Bartosz Banka / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

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