During the solidarity campaign with Andrzej Poczobut, the vice-president of the Union of Poles in Belarus, Marek Zaniewski, said that the journalist and activist of the Polish minority had been released from solitary confinement, but was still in a penal colony. He added that Poczobut sometimes receives letters and a lawyer is sometimes allowed to see him.
Journalist and activist of the Polish minority Belarus Andrzej Poczobut he has been in custody since March 25, 2021. On February 8, 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony. After his appeal against the verdict was rejected, he remains in the penal colony in Nowopołock.
Vice-president of ZPB: Andrzej Poczobut was transferred from solitary confinement
On Monday, a cyclical solidarity action with Poczobut took place in Białystok. Marek Zaniewski, vice president of the Association of Poles in Belarus, one of the organizers of the monthly actions, who was present there, said, among other things, that Poczobut is still in a penal colony, but has recently been released from solitary confinement.
He added that from time to time Poczobut receives letters from his family and can meet with a lawyer. – However, his situation is as difficult as it was a month ago – he said.
We have sent questions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the current situation of Andrzej Poczobut in the penal colony. We have not received a response until the text is published.
Andrzej Poczobut has been in custody since March 25, 2021Leonid Shcheglov/Pool via AP/EastNews
Andrzej Poczobut a political prisoner
Andrzej Poczobut was arrested on March 25, 2021 and has been behind bars since then. In a political trial that took place in early 2023, the authorities accused Poczobut, a Belarusian citizen and activist of the Polish minority, of “incitement to hatred”, and his actions of cultivating Polishness and publishing articles in the media were considered “rehabilitation of Nazism”. Poczobut was also accused of “calling for actions to the detriment of Belarus.” The activist was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony.
Organizations human rights they consider Poczobut a political prisoner and the proceedings against him are politically motivated.
The Polish authorities are constantly demanding Poczobut's release and his cleansing of politically motivated, false accusations. In response to the unjust conviction of the journalist, Poland closed the border crossing in Bobrowniki.
Main photo source: Leonid Shcheglov/Pool via AP/EastNews