"He Truly Deserved It Like Few Others" — Milinkevich on the Award for Pachobut

Alexander Milinkevich, former Sakharov Prize laureate, former presidential candidate, and now advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, congratulated Andrzej Poczobut on the award.

"He truly deserved it like few others. I've known him for ages. We are from the same city. Together we revived Polish and Belarusian identity in Hrodna. He is a man of revival, a very brave, courageous person, a man of ideas and values. And I believe he deserved this award, and it will undoubtedly strengthen his chances of being released, and will also help other Belarusian political prisoners."

In a conversation with "Svaboda," Milinkevich emphasizes that Lukashenka does not release political prisoners merely because they have received prestigious awards.

"Lukashenka only releases political prisoners when he fears that he will no longer rule Belarus. This was the case during the aggression in Georgia, then the annexation of Crimea, and political prisoners were released then. And now he also fears that Putin will lose the war. And he will release political prisoners, I am sure of it, including Andrzej."

According to the politician, the EU made the right decision by awarding the prize to two journalists.

"Few people, like journalists, do such great work in establishing democracy, freedom, and human rights in the world. We have reached a time when there are fewer democracies than dictatorships. The ideas of digital totalitarianism and managed chaos are winning in the world. And even the leading country in the world stops caring about democracy in other states. These are, of course, very difficult, challenging times, and such heroes, true heroes like Andrzej Poczobut, are very important as symbols, as people to emulate," he says.

Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and activist of the Polish minority in Belarus, was arrested in the spring of 2021 as part of the so-called "Union of Poles in Belarus case." The Hrodna Regional Court sentenced him to 8 years in a strict-regime penal colony. The activist was found guilty of "calls for actions aimed at harming national security" and "inciting national hatred." The political nature of the verdict was recognized by Belarusian human rights defenders and the international community.

After the pronouncement of this harsh sentence on February 10, 2023, Poland sharply increased sanction pressure in response, closing one of the two key border crossing points — "Bobrowniki" ("Berastavitsa").

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