Andrzej Poczobut returns to Belarus after prisoner swap release

September 11, 2026 at 05:23 PM2 min

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Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut returned to Belarus on September 8, crossing at the Bobrowniki checkpoint. He plans to stay about a week before traveling to Canada and the United States. Opposition figures welcomed his return but cautioned it does not signal broader political change.

Key Facts

Andrzej Poczobut crossed the Polish-Belarusian border at the Bobrowniki checkpoint on September 8.
Poczobut was released from prison more than four months ago in a prisoner exchange.
He plans to stay in Belarus for about a week before traveling to Canada and the United States.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called his return a courageous act but warned it does not mean the situation has changed for everyone.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski advised other political refugees not to follow Poczobut's example.

Return to Belarus

Andrzej Poczobut crossed the Polish-Belarusian border at the Bobrowniki checkpoint on September 8, according to Polish media. On the same day, he posted a photo from Grodno on X with the caption "On the Neman" in Polish. The next day, he published a photo from the Grodno office of the Union of Poles, an organization not recognized by the Belarusian authorities. Poczobut was released from prison more than four months ago in a prisoner exchange.

Opposition Reactions

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya wrote on Telegram that Poczobut's return was a courageous act and expressed joy that he is in Belarus. She cautioned against concluding that the situation has changed for everyone in the country. Ales Bialiatski, the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said on Facebook that Poczobut's return shows he is a brave person willing to take risks. Bialiatski added that he would not advise other political refugees to do the same, to avoid later reproaching themselves for naivety.

Political Amnesty Proposal

Franak Viacorka, an adviser to Tsikhanouskaya, called Poczobut's return an important precedent in a comment to DW. He said that under certain conditions other people could also seek return, but not now, and that this is more an exception than a rule. Viacorka stated that the opposition's proposal is a general political amnesty.