Andrzej Poczobut plans to return to Belarus next week

On Saturday, a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Union of Poles in Belarus was held in Białystok, during which a decision was made to postpone the ZPB congress from mid-September to March 2027. The reason is - as indicated by the president of the organization, Andżelika Borys - "security reasons".

The meeting was attended by, among others, Andrzej Poczobut, who, after being released at the end of April, immediately declared that he would return to Belarus. The date was set for mid-September - precisely because of the congress of the Union of Poles in Belarus scheduled for that date.

The former political prisoner told reporters on Saturday that he was not changing his plans. I'm going to Belarus, home. This meeting today only confirms that I should go to Belarus. To meet people, after all, I haven't seen some people for five years, he emphasized.

The 53-year-old activist of the Polish minority announced that he was planning a trip to Belarus next week.

Please imagine how much strength Poland devoted to supporting the Polish minority in Belarus, how much strength was devoted to supporting the Union of Poles in Belarus during all these years. I'm not going there for personal reasons. This is a matter to which I have devoted a significant part of my life, and I want this matter to function and the relationship to develop, he emphasized.

A few days ago, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Czesław Mroczek, who was a guest of the Morning conversation on RMF FM, spoke about the return of Andrzej Poczobut to Belarus.

I respect his personal decision, but from the point of view of relations with the Belarusian regime, it is a difficult situation for Poland. To put it simply - it carries a huge risk for Mr. Andrzej Poczobut himself - he said.

Who is Andrzej Poczobut?

Andrzej Poczobut is a Belarusian journalist, publicist and activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus. He was born in 1973 in the Grodno region. For years, he reported on events in Belarus for "Gazeta Wyborcza", including: the policy of the authorities in Minsk, the situation of the opposition and the affairs of the Polish minority.

In his activities, he has repeatedly demanded the right of Poles in Belarus to learn their native language and cultivate their own culture.

He was detained in Grodno on March 25, 2021, during the repression against activists of the Polish minority. In February 2023, a court in Grodno sentenced him to eight years in a penal colony. The Belarusian authorities accused him of, among other things, "inciting hatred" and actions considered by the prosecutor's office as "rehabilitation of Nazism". Poland and human rights organizations assessed the proceedings as politically motivated.