Belarus frees journalist Andrzej Poczobut in prisoner swap

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Prominent journalist Andrzej Poczobut has been released from jail in Belarus in a swap with Poland that also saw a total of 10 prisoners released as the authoritarian leader of Belarus seeks improved relations with the West, officials in both countries said Tuesday.

Poczobut, a correspondent for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a leading figure among Belarus’ Polish minority, was serving eight years in prison in a case condemned as politically motivated.

His arrest in 2021 drew widespread criticism from Europe and he was later awarded the European Union’s most prestigious human rights award, the Sakharov Prize.

The swap is the latest in a series of U.S.-negotiated prisoner releases that have marked stronger relations between Minsk and the West during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term.

A spokesman for Polish Foreign Ministry said three of the five prisoners released by Belarus came to Poland in exchange for three sent by Poland to Belarus, with a total of 10 involving other countries.

In March, Lukashenko ordered the release of 250 political prisoners as part of a deal with Washington that lifted some U.S. sanctions.

A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced isolation for years. Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western countries — both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Writing on X, Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, said three Poles and two Moldovans had been released as part of the swap.

“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,” he wrote.

—-

Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia.