International Mother Language Day 2025: Take Action for Andrzej Poczobut (Belarus)
Image credit: Ivan Mezhui via Creative Commons
“Andrzej Poczobut, a voice for the silenced, is paying a devastating price for his unwavering commitment to truth and justice. Locked away, deprived of the very freedoms he seeks to protect, his persecution is a chilling reminder of the lengths to which the Belarusian authorities will go to crush dissent. PEN International stands with Andrzej and all those unjustly imprisoned. No one should be punished for speaking out.” Urtzi Urrutikoetxea, Chair of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of PEN International
21 February 2025: Belarusian-Polish writer, journalist and minority activist Andrzej Poczobut is serving an eight-year sentence in a high-security penal colony, on trumped up charges of inciting hatred and encouraging sanctions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus. While in detention, he has been denied vital heart medication and held in solitary confinement. Poczobut’s case is emblematic of the type of oppression experienced by writers and journalists who speak up for the rights of oppressed minorities. PEN International calls for his immediate release, as well as the provision of adequate healthcare pending his release. Take action with us on International Mother Language Day 2025.
How can you help?
1. Advocacy
PEN International calls on the Belarusian authorities to release Andrzej Poczobut immediately and unconditionally and drop all charges against him. Pending his release, he should be held in conditions that meet international human rights standards for the treatment of prisoners, including the removal from solitary confinement, access to adequate health care, and regular communication with his family and lawyers.
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Please send appeals to: President of Belarus: Natalya Petkevich
Address: Independence Palace, praspiekt Pieramožcaŭ 12, Minsk, Minskaja voblasć, Belarus
Send copies to the Embassy of Belarus in your own country. Embassy addresses may be found here: https://mfa.gov.by/en/bilateral/belarus/?asd50 .
Please reach out to your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic representatives in Belarus, calling on them to raise the case of Poczobut in bilateral fora.
2. Solidarity
Please send messages of solidarity to Andrzej Poczobut.
3. Social Media
Spread the word about Andrzej Poczobut’s case on social media.
Use the sample messages below with the hashtags #AndrzejPoczobut, #IMLD and #InternationalMotherLanguageDay, tagging @pen_int and @pen_belarus (X), @peninternational (Instagram), facebook.com/peninternational (Facebook) and @peninternational.bsky.social (Bluesky).
Facebook/Instagram:
Belarusian-Polish journalist #AndrzejPoczobut has been imprisoned for nearly three years for his reporting and advocacy for the Polish minority in Belarus. Locked away in a high-security prison, denied vital heart medication, and held in solitary confinement, his case reflects the harsh reality for writers who dare to challenge repression.
On #InternationalMotherLanguageDay, stand with Andrzej and all those persecuted for defending linguistic and cultural rights. Demand his immediate and unconditional release.
Take action now
Bluesky/X:
On #InternationalMotherLanguageDay, we stand with #AndrzejPoczobut, jailed for nearly three years for defending linguistic and cultural rights in Belarus. Denied medical care & held in solitary confinement— we demand his freedom today.
Take action now
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Background
A Belarusian-Polish dual citizen, Andrzej Poczobut has repeatedly been targeted by the Belarusian authorities for his writings and for seeking to promote the rights of the Polish minority in Belarus. As a board member of the Union of Poles in Belarus, Poczobut was arrested on 25 March 2021 in Hrodna, western Belarus, following raids on the organisation’s offices across the country. He was transferred to a detention centre in Minsk and accused of inciting hatred under Article 130.3 of the Belarusian Criminal Code —charges linked to his reporting on the 2020 anti-government protests and his minority rights activism, including his depiction of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 as ‘an act of aggression’.
In September 2022, he was moved to a pre-trial detention facility in Hrodna and further charged with encouraging sanctions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus (Article 361.3 of the Criminal Code) before being added to the government’s ‘list of individuals involved in terrorist activities’.
His closed-door trial began on 16 January 2023, culminating in an eight-year sentence in a medium-security penal colony on 8 February. His appeal was rejected on 26 May 2023, and he was transferred to a high-security prison.
Poczobut, who suffers from serious health conditions, has repeatedly been held in solitary confinement and deprived of essential heart medication. Despite calls for his release from Polish authorities, he remains imprisoned.
Poczobut is a writer, journalist, columnist, poet and activist. A correspondent for the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, he has also contributed to various Belarusian media outlets. His 2013 book, System Białoruś (System Belarus), examines President Aliaksandr Lukašenka’s autocratic rule.
The situation in Belarus remains of grave concern, with the UN concluding that authorities may have committed crimes against humanity. PEN International and PEN Belarus welcome the establishment of a group of independent experts to investigate violations, collect and preserve evidence, and identify those responsible. At least 1,218 political prisoners were held as of 20 February 2025, according to the Human Rights Centre Viasna. Torture and other-ill-treatment of detainees remain systematic and widespread. Several individuals continue to be held in prolonged incommunicado detention, including writer and lawyer Maksim Znak. The health of Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski reportedly deteriorated due to inadequate healthcare. The authorities of Belarus are increasingly targeting relatives of dissidents and mounting acts of transnational repression, opening at least 104 criminal cases against Belarusians abroad who took part in Freedom Day celebrations in March 2024.
For more information about the work of PEN Belarus – including their latest reports and monitoring findings – please click here.
For more information about PEN International’s work on Belarus, please click here.
4. Share
Thank you for supporting Andrzej Poczobut. Please share his story on social media to urge others to stand against the suppression of press freedom.
Note to editors:
For further information please contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International: Aurelia.dondo@pen-international.org
For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, PEN International Communications and Campaigns Manager, Sabrina.Tucci@pen-international.org
