Andrzej Poczobut

Andrzej Poc­zobut, jour­nal­ist, behind bars since 25 March 2021.

On 25 March 2021, at the height of the Belaru­sian-Pol­ish diplo­mat­ic con­flict, mem­bers of the offi­cial­ly dis­graced Union of Poles in Belarus were searched in Hrod­na. The Gen­er­al Prosecutor’s office brought a crim­i­nal case for «incite­ment of nation­al and reli­gious hatred.» Among the arrest­ed lead­ers of the orga­ni­za­tion was well-known jour­nal­ist Andrzej Poc­zobut, 49. The Union of Poles in Belarus, as well as the Pol­ish gov­ern­ment, stat­ed that the pros­e­cu­tion was «an act of intim­i­da­tion against the entire Pol­ish minor­i­ty in Belarus.» Fol­low­ing the Poc­zobut ver­dict, Poland closed anoth­er Pol­ish-Belaru­sian bor­der cross­ing, Bobrown­i­ki — Beras­tavit­sa.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized him as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 8 years of impris­on­ment under Part 3 of Arti­cle 130 of the Crim­i­nal Code (incit­ing nation­al or reli­gious hatred or reha­bil­i­tat­ing Nazism) and under Part 3 of Arti­cle 361 of the Crim­i­nal Code (encour­ag­ing sanc­tions aimed at harm­ing nation­al secu­ri­ty).

Judge: Dzmit­ry Bubenchyk

Birth­day: 16 April 1973