Belarus Frees Jailed Journalist In Swap As Press Freedom Concerns Persist

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief reporting from Budapest, Hungary

BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has welcomed Belarus’s release of journalist Andrzej Poczobut as part of a multinational prisoner exchange involving Poland, the United States, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.

His release came shortly before World Press Freedom Day on Sunday, May 3, amid mounting concerns over a crackdown on independent journalism across the former Soviet Union and beyond.

The swap, which reportedly involved around 10 detainees from various countries, took place at the Polish-Belarusian border and was confirmed by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who shared a photograph of Poczobut on the social media platform X.

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

PRISONER SWAP AND RELEASE DETAILS

Poczobut, a political commentator and correspondent for Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, also worked with Poland-based broadcaster Belsat TV and TVP Polonia, focusing on Belarus’s Polish minority.

“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,” she added.

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

INTERNATIONAL REACTION AND PRESSURE

U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale said his team helped secure the release of several detainees, including three Polish and two Moldovan nationals.

Belarusian state news agency BelTA reported that the release followed personal appeals to President Aleksandr Lukashenko by Poczobut’s mother and by Andżelika Borys, head of the Union of Poles in Belarus.

Poczobut had been detained since March 2021 and was sentenced in February 2023 to eight years in prison on charges of “inciting hatred” and “calling for sanctions aimed at harming national security.”

The charges stemmed from his reporting on the 2020 anti-government protests and his advocacy for Belarus’s Polish minority.

JOURNALISTS STILL BEHIND BARS

Between 2024 and 2026, at least 19 journalists were released in Belarus before completing their sentences, yet repression has continued.

In March alone, four journalists were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 14 years because of their work, according to rights groups.

As of April 28, at least 22 journalists remained imprisoned in Belarus.

CPJ and other organizations have repeatedly urged authorities to end the crackdown and release all detained media workers.

WIDER CRACKDOWN ON MEDIA FREEDOM

Yet Poczobut’s release was overshadowed by a separate case highlighting ongoing risks for journalists in the region.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) said its journalist and economist, Farid Mehralizada, has now spent more than 700 days in what it described as “unjust imprisonment” in Azerbaijan, separated from his family, including a young child born during his detention.

The U.S.-backed broadcaster said the milestone underscores “the continuing cost of independent journalism” in the region, as calls grow for his release ahead of the May 30 anniversary of his arrest.

Earlier this month, Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court rejected his appeal, upholding a nine-year prison sentence.

Press freedom advocates have urged international backing for detained journalists across the region, warning that cases like Mehralizada’s show that the broader crackdown on independent media is far from over.

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