Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed the release on Tuesday, posting a photo of himself shaking hands with Poczobut at the border and writing: “Andrzej Poczobut is free! Welcome to your Polish home, my friend”. He added: “The exchange at the Polish-Belarusian border is the finale of a two-year-long intricate diplomatic game, full of dramatic twists. “It succeeded thanks to the outstanding work of our services, diplomats, and prosecutors, as well as the tremendous help from our American, Romanian, and Moldovan friends.” A member of the Polish minority in Belarus, Poczobut was sentenced to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony in March 2021 on charges of inciting hatred and promoting anti-state activities. Through his journalistic work, he had become a thorn in the side of President Alexander Lukashenko and his authoritarian regime. Poczobut was one of five prisoners released by Minsk on Tuesday, three of them exchanged with Poland, including a monk. Two Moldovans were also freed, with five others going the other way. Among those handed over to Belarus is a Russian archeologist held by Poland, who was wanted by the Ukrainian authorities over controversial conservation work carried out in occupied Crimea. 'We are going to Warsaw' “First kilometers of freedom. We are going to Warsaw,” Bartosz T. Wieliński, a journalist with Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza wrote on X, posting a picture from a car sitting alongside Poczobut, who used to be a political correspondent for the paper before his imprisonment. Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, speaking alongside US special envoy John Coale at a press conference following the prisoner swap, said Poczobut was “a symbol of being dedicated to Polishness and freedom of press.” He added: “Let us rejoice, we have him! After 1,860 days in a high-security prison, our heroic compatriot, a martyr of the cause of freedom, Andrzej Poczobut is in Poland, safe and well.” “He is clearly famished – he was in prison for five years,” Sikorski added speaking of Poczobut’s physical condition. Wieliński, Poczobut’s journalist colleague, said on Tuesday night that the 53-year-old had undergone medical tests and was in a “terrible” state – but added that he was the same “funny” and “optimistic” character that he previously knew. While he has been freed, it is unclear what Poczobut’s future intentions are. Political prisoners released by Belarus are often barred from returning, leaving them effectively exiled. As he met Tusk, Poczobut asked whether he would be able to go back to Belarus. Wieliński said his friend was “determined” to return, saying he felt a sense of “responsibility” towards Poles living beyond the eastern border. The Polish government emphasized the role of its own state agencies in the complex negotiations to release Poczobut, as well as that of the US. US envoy Coale said that Polish President Karol Nawrocki and US President Donald Trump “were very much involved to get this done,” adding later that Nawrocki had urged the American leader to help free Poczobut. Reacting to his release, Nawrocki said Poczobut had “shown how strong the attachment to Polish values is” and invited him to receive the country’s highest honor, the Order of the White Eagle. Despite his strong alliance with Russia, including support for the invasion of Ukraine, Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, has cultivated warmer ties with the US and the Trump administration, leading to the loosening of some sanctions and earlier prisoner swaps. Coale suggested Lukashenko also deserved credit for the prisoners being released. “People have to remember it takes two to release a prisoner – it takes Lukashenko and it takes us. I’m not saying Lukashenko is Churchill, but he is moving in the right direction. And today it shows.” Ukraine’s ‘regret’ As many as seven countries in total were involved in the prisoner swap deal, including Kazakhstan, Romania, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine in addition to Poland and the US. Tusk praised Moldova and Romania for providing high-profile detainees – including an ex-security service chief – to make up the group of five handed over to Belarus. Also included is archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, an academic with Russia’s Hermitage Museum accused of illegal excavations in occupied Crimea, who was held by the Polish authorities. Ukraine expressed “regret” that his planned extradition from Poland did not go ahead. Hundreds still jailed Despite the latest releases, hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus. The total fell below 1,000 for the first time in years after 250 were released in March, but John Coale said there are 800–900 still remaining “and we haven’t stopped our work at all until we get every last one of them.” “So the United States is very committed to have this happen, and hopefully we get them all out,” he told a press conference following Tuesday’s prisoner exchange. Leading Belarusian opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said following March’s releases that the headlines belie underlying repression. On Tuesday, she welcomed Poczobut’s release. “We must fight not only for release, but also for the return of everyone home. Andrzej did not want to leave Belarus — it is his homeland. And we must do everything so that Andrzej and all others can return home. “We will continue to fight until repression fully ends.”
