Belarus frees journalist Andrzej Poczobut 

New York, April 28, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release by Belarus on Tuesday of journalist Andrzej Poczobut, as part of a Polish-Belarusian prisoner exchange involving the United States, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.  

The swap, which included ten prisoners from various countries, took place at the Polish-Belarusian border and was confirmed by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who posted a picture of Poczobut on X. 

“Andrzej Poczobut is free! Welcome to ​your Polish home, my friend,” Tusk ⁠wrote, adding that the exchange was “the finale of a two-year-long intricate diplomatic game, full of dramatic twists.” 

Poczobut had been a political commentator, a correspondent at Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, and producer of Nad Niemnem, a television program focused on Belarus’ Polish community, for independent Poland-based broadcaster Belsat TV and Polish public broadcaster TVP Polonia.

“CPJ welcomes today’s release of Andrzej Poczobut after 1,860 days of unjust imprisonment,” said Fiona O’Brien, CPJ’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia. “He should never have spent a single day behind bars. We call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately release the 22 journalists still detained today for their work.”

In December, the European Parliament awarded him its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

“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,” U.S. Special Envoy John Coale wrote on X. 

According to Belarusian state news agency BelTA, Poczobut was released following a personal appeal to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko by the journalist’s mother and by Andżelika Borys, head of the Union of Poles in Belarus, which represents the country’s Polish minority and of which Poczobut is a member.

Poczobut, who has been detained since March 2021, was sentenced in February 2023 to eight years in jail on charges of “inciting hatred” and “calling for sanctions aimed at harming national security,” stemming from his coverage of 2020 anti-government protests in Belarus and statements he made in defense of Belarus’ Polish minority. 

In 2024-2026, 19 journalists were freed in Belarus before the end of their sentences. Still, in March alone, four journalists were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 14 years because of their work. In total, 22 journalists remained imprisoned in Belarus as of April 28.