Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish-Belarusian journalist and correspondent for the influential Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, has been released from a Belarusian penal colony. The development was confirmed by officials in both Warsaw and Minsk on Tuesday, marking a rare instance of cooperation between the two countries.
Poczobut, 52, was serving an eight-year sentence for charges of “harming Belarus’s national security,” a case widely condemned by European governments and human rights organizations as politically motivated. His arrest in 2021 drew international outcry, and in 2022 he was awarded the European Union’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the bloc’s highest human rights honor.
Details of the Exchange
The swap involved a total of ten prisoners across several countries. According to a spokesperson for the Polish foreign ministry, three prisoners released by Belarus came to Poland in exchange for three individuals sent by Poland to Belarus. Among those released by Poland was Alexander Butyagin, a Russian archaeologist wanted by Ukraine for conducting excavations in Crimea, which has been under Russian occupation since 2014. Butyagin heads the archaeology department at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
John Coale, the US special envoy for Belarus, wrote on X that the swap also included two Moldovan citizens. “We thank Poland, Moldova and Romania for their invaluable support in this effort, as well as President Lukashenka’s willingness to pursue constructive engagement with the United States,” Coale stated.
The release comes amid a broader thaw in relations between Minsk and the West, following years of isolation and sanctions. In March, Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka ordered the release of 250 political prisoners as part of a deal with Washington that saw some US sanctions lifted. The Trump administration has sought to improve communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a close ally of Lukashenka.
Belarus has faced repeated sanctions from the EU and the US for its human rights record and for allowing Russia to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022. The country’s crackdown on dissent, particularly after the disputed 2020 presidential election, led to the arrest of over 65,000 people, the closure of hundreds of independent media outlets and NGOs, and widespread reports of torture and ill-treatment in detention. UN experts have detailed systematic abuse in Belarusian prisons.
Health and Solitary Confinement
Human rights activists have highlighted that Poczobut suffers from a serious heart condition and was repeatedly placed in solitary confinement, sometimes for periods of up to six months. His newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, expressed hope that the Sakharov Prize would “be a pebble that will trigger an avalanche of events. That it will lead to the imminent release of our Belarusian correspondent. Andrzej’s fate has finally ceased to be a game between Lukashenka’s special services and Poland. It is a matter for the whole of Europe.”
Lukashenka, often referred to as “Europe’s last dictator,” has ruled Belarus for over three decades. His regime has maintained power through elections dismissed by the West as neither free nor fair, and through violent crackdowns on opposition. The release of Poczobut is seen as a significant gesture, though critics note that hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars.
The swap underscores the complex geopolitical dynamics at play, with Belarus seeking to reduce its isolation while maintaining close ties with Moscow. For Poland and the broader European Union, the case of Andrzej Poczobut has been a symbol of the repression faced by journalists and minorities in Belarus. German officials have also warned of Russian-linked cyber operations targeting politicians, highlighting the broader security concerns in the region.
