The IPI global network today welcomes the long overdue release from prison of Polish-Belarusian journalist and Sakharov prize laureate Andrzej Poczobut, who was freed as part of a prisoner swap on 28 April.
During his time behind bars, Poczobut became emblematic of the fight for press freedom in Belarus and the serious legal risks journalists face while carrying out their job under the Lukashenko regime, one of the world’s worst jailers of the press.
Prior to his detention, Poczobut worked as a correspondent in Belarus for Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and reported for many years on the authoritarian government of Alexander Lukashenko, facing reprisals for his critical reporting.
The journalist, who also worked as a Polish community activist, was arrested in March 2021 after a raid in his apartment in Hrodna. He was later sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of “inciting hatred and harming national security” and spent significant time in solitary confinement.
The charges and conviction were widely seen as politically motivated and condemned internationally. While behind bars, Belarusian authorities consistently refused Poczobut the right to any meetings with his friends and family and his health had deteriorated.
News of his release in a US-brokered multi-country prisoner swap broke on 28 April. Upon his release, Poczobut was greeted at the Polish border by Polish Prime Minister Donaold Tusk.
“While IPI is relieved to see Andrzej Poczobut released from jail, we regret to see that he was only freed under the condition that he leave the country,” said IPI Eastern Europe Press Freedom Advisor Karol Łuczka. “While Andrzej’s release is a positive step and we look forward to him being reunited with his family, it also serves as a reminder of the tragic human cost of the Lukashenko regime’s crackdown on independent journalism and media freedom – for which 22 other journalists remain behind bars in the country.”
Poczobut was jointly awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize in December 2025 for defending expression amid persecution, alongside jailed Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli.
Independent journalism remains legally forbidden in Belarus in practice, with several articles of the country’s criminal code foreseeing prison terms for vague and politically manipulable charges such as “discrediting Belarus” or “insulting” Alexander Lukashenko.
Belarus also remains one of the worst jailers of journalists in the world, with 22 Belarusian media workers still behind bars in retaliation for their work, according to monitoring carried out by IPI and the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ).