Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut freed as part of prisoners swap
Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, the 2025 Sakharov prize winner, has been freed from Belarusian prison.
His release has been confirmed by Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk, who posted a picture of him on social media saying: “Andrzej Poczobut is free! Welcome to your Polish home, my friend.”
Detained by the Belarusian authorities in 2021, Poczobut was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony after a process widely condemned as politically motivated to silence critics. In recent years there were growing warnings about his deteriorating health.
Awarding him the Sakharov prize in 2025, the European Parliament president Roberta Metsola hailed Poczobut and co-winner Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia as “two journalists whose courage shines as a beacon for all who refuse to be silenced.”
“Both have paid a heavy price for speaking truth to power, becoming symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy.”
His release comes as part of a reported prisoners swap between Poland and Belarus; the details of which are yet to be reported or confirmed.
Photograph: X/@donaldtusk/Reuters
Key events
-
‘First kilometres of freedom,’ Poczobut’s editor celebrates his release
-
‘Finale of two-year long intricate diplomatic game,’ Poland’s Tusk says of prisoners swap
-
Up to 900 political prisoners still in Belarus and US won’t stop ‘until we get every last one of them’, Trump’s envoy says
-
‘What are you getting out of this?,’ US asked Belarus when negotiating release of prisoners
-
Poczobut is symbol of commitment to free media, Poland’s foreign minister Sikorski says
-
Three Poles, two Moldovans released as part of US efforts, Trump’s envoy Coale says
-
‘Dictator released our colleague from penal colony,’ Poland’s newspaper celebrates Poczobut’s release
-
Poczobut’s release comes after talks with US special envoy to Belarus
-
Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut freed as part of prisoners swap
-
Macron backs Andorra’s association agreement with EU
-
‘Public secret’ that Iran war causes delays to stock deliveries to Europe, Finland and Estonia’s leaders confirm
-
‘Prepare for the worst so you can avoid it,’ Finnish president says as he plays down Tusk’s warnings about potential Russian attack in months
-
Gunman opens fire at two locations in Athens, leaving at least five people injured
-
Media freedom ‘under sustained attack’ across EU as public trust drops, report finds
-
Morning opening: Co-prince Macron visits Andorra
‘First kilometres of freedom,’ Poczobut’s editor celebrates his release
Poczobut’s friend and editor at Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza, Bartosz Wieliński, has just posted a picture with the released journalist on X, saying:
double quotation mark “The first kilometres of freedom. We’re heading to Warsaw.”
‘Finale of two-year long intricate diplomatic game,’ Poland’s Tusk says of prisoners swap
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk said “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.”
Poland’s president, Karol Nawrocki, also welcomed the news, pointedly thanking the US president, Donald Trump, for his help.
The Russian state media reported that as part of the swap, Poland released a jailed Russian archaeologist, Alexander Butyagin, who was wanted by Ukraine.
“As a result of an exchange carried out on the Belarusian-Polish section of the border, two citizens of our country were returned to their homeland,” state media cited the FSB security service as saying, naming one of them as Butyagin.
The head of the archaeology department at the famed Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Butyagin faced extradition to Ukraine for conducting excavations in Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, AFP reported.
Up to 900 political prisoners still in Belarus and US won’t stop ‘until we get every last one of them’, Trump’s envoy says
Trump’s special Belarus envoy John Coale ends the press conference declaring:
“The United States has a lot to do on this issue, there’s 800 to 900 political prisoners left to get out of Belarus, 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.”
Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski says Warsaw will always “respond with goodwill to gestures of goodwill,” but then caveats that by saying he doesn’t want to “overpromise, because we have had these false doors before, but we think it’s a move in the right direction.”
US Belarus envoy John Coale says he is going back to Belarus in “two or three weeks,” so will hold further talks.
He says he also keeps raising Lithuania’s concerns about meteorological balloons flying from Belarus into Lithuania’s airspace and disrupting airports, saying “we are getting very good progress” on this issue.
‘What are you getting out of this?,’ US asked Belarus when negotiating release of prisoners
US special envoy to Belarus John Coale offers a bit more detail of the discussions with Belarus’s Lukashenko.
“Basically an argument with Lukashenko is, what are you getting out of this? You’ve got these people or this person in prison, and what are you really getting out of this.
It doesn’t help you, internationally, it hurts you, internationally, and if Belarus, wants to join the family of nations, this kind of things have to stop. If you want to put people into prison for good reason, great, that’s your business, but not for these types of crimes.”
Poland’s Sikorski adds that “the fact that we had people to exchange helped, but it would not have happened without the United States.”
He says seven countries were involved in the process in total: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, and Poland.
Poczobut is symbol of commitment to free media, Poland’s foreign minister Sikorski says
Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski is speaking at a press conference, responding to the news of Poczobut’s release.
He says it is a great example of the Polish-US alliance at work, crediting the US president, Donald Trump, and special Belarus envoy John Coale.
“Poczobut is not the only released Pole, but we all know he is a symbol of commitment to Polishness and the freedom of the media and journalists.”
He says Poland will push for more Polish political prisoners to be released as he calls for further work on relations with and towards Belarus.
Speaking alongside him, Coale similarly says the US had been working on this issue for “some time” with “complex negotiations” involved, as stresses the role of the US president, Donald Trump, and the Polish president, Karol Nawrocki.
Sikorski confirms the process involved “a prisoner’s exchange,” and says one of the people released by Poland was a Russian historian who was facing extradition to Ukraine.
Earlier this month, in an article marking Poczobut’s 53rd birthday, Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza said that he was “sentenced for allegedly inciting ethnic hatred and acting to the detriment of Belarus,” but “in reality, dictator Alexander Lukashenko’s men decided to punish Andrzej for being a defiant activist of the Polish minority and a steadfast, independent journalist.”
Separately, a UN-mandated report released last month warned about “deeply alarming detention practices” in Belarus’s prison system, warning specifically that the Novopoltsk colony in which Poczobut was held saw detainees “subjected to prolonged solidary confinement, disciplinary sanctions and physical punishments after suicide attempts” with reported “denial of essential medical case and reprisals for attempting to raise complaints.”
Three Poles, two Moldovans released as part of US efforts, Trump’s envoy Coale says
The US special envoy to Belarus, John Coale, has just offered a bit more detail on the operation, confirming that three Poles and two Moldovans were released as a result of US efforts.
“Today, in my role as President Trump’s Special Envoy for Belarus, my team and I helped secure the release of three Poles and two Moldovans. This historic outcome was made possible thanks to @POTUS Trump’s leadership, @ChrisWelbySmith and his team @StateDept, and close coordination with several trusted partners.
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.
Under President Trump, America shows up for its allies and delivers diplomatic victories no one else can.”
‘Dictator released our colleague from penal colony,’ Poland’s newspaper celebrates Poczobut’s release
Poland’s daily record newspaper and longtime Poczobut employer, Gazeta Wyborcza, has welcomed the news of his release with a splash:
double quotation mark Andrzej Poczobut finally free! The [Belarusian] dictator has released our colleague from the penal colony.
Poczobut’s release comes after talks with US special envoy to Belarus
The news of Poczobut’s release comes just hours after Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, published a picture of his meeting with the US special envoy to Belarus John Coale, saying secretly the pair discussed “important issues.”
About the Author
