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Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and leader of the Polish minority in Belarus who has been imprisoned since 2021, has been awarded the Sakharov Prize, the EU’s highest award in the field of human rights, alongside Mzia Amaglobeli, a journalist imprisoned in Georgia.
“We honour two journalists whose courage shines as a beacon for all who refuse to be silenced,” declared European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who was joined in announcing the prize by exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
“Both have paid a heavy price for speaking truth to power, becoming symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy,” Metsola added. “The parliament stands with them, and with all those who continue to demand freedom.”
Tsikhanouskaya declared that Poczobut is “not only a journalist, he is a symbol of truth and courage”. She said that the award “sends a powerful message – to dictators, that truth cannot be imprisoned, and to political prisoners, that they are not forgotten”.
Imprisoned journalists Andrzej Poczobut from Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia have been awarded the European Parliament's 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. pic.twitter.com/tUMF5q6ZjC
— European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) October 22, 2025
Poczobut was detained in 2021 along with other leading figures in Belarus’s large ethnic-Polish community. He was held in pretrial detention for 460 days before being sentenced in 2023 to eight years in a penal colony for “inciting hatred” and “the rehabilitation of Nazism”.
The allegations against Poczobut are widely regarded as politically motivated and have been condemned by Poland, the European Union and a range of human rights groups. The poor conditions in which he is being held, which have contributed to Poczobut’s declining health, have also been criticised.
In awarding him the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament noted that Poczobut is “known for his outspoken criticism of the regime” of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
“His health has deteriorated but, despite not receiving the medical care he needs, he is still fighting for freedom and democracy,” they added, noting that “Poczobut’s current state of health is unknown and his family is not allowed to visit”.
Amaglobeli was arrested in January this year after joining protests against the government. In August, she was sentenced to two years in prison for slapping a police officer. Her treatment has also been widely condemned by human rights groups.
Named after Soviet physicist and dissident human rights activist Andrei Sakharov, the EU prize is awarded annually to individuals, groups and organisations who have worked to defend human rights, freedom of expression and democratic values.
The inaugural laureates, in 1989, were South African anti-apartheid Nelson Mandela and Soviet dissident Anatoly Marchenko. Other winners include Aung San Suu Kyi (1991), Malala Yousafzai (2013), Alexei Navalny (2021), and the people of Ukraine (2022).
Andżelika Borys, a leader of Belarus’s ethnic Polish community, has been cleared of the charges she was facing for “inciting hatred” and “rehabilitating Nazism”.
"This is the first good news from Minsk in a long time," says Poland's foreign ministry https://t.co/gcCnAieW0K
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 4, 2023
The Belarusian authorities have in recent years clamped down on the country’s ethnic Polish minority, which numbers around 300,000 according to official figures but is believed to be even larger than that.
Those actions have coincided with growing diplomatic tensions between Warsaw and Minsk, including over the war in Ukraine and a migration crisis engineered by Belarus on its border with Poland.
Last month, Belarus detained a Polish monk whom it accused of carrying out espionage on behalf of Poland. Those accusations were denied by Warsaw, which pledged to take “retaliatory measures” against Minsk.
Belarus has detained a Polish monk whom it accuses of spying on behalf of Poland in relation to upcoming Russian-Belarusian military exercises
Poland's @donaldtusk says the accusations are "absurd" and warns that Warsaw is “preparing retaliatory measures” https://t.co/PYEWuZfT85
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 5, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: © European Union 2025 – Source : EP
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
