Andrzej Poczobut
Andrzej Poczobut | |
|---|---|
| Андрэй Пачобут | |
Poczobut in 2013 | |
| Deputy Chairman of the Union of Poles in Belarus | |
| Assumed office 10 December 2016 | |
| Chairman | Andżelika Borys |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 April 1973 Vyalikaya Byerastavitsa, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Spouse | Aksana Poczobut |
| Children | Jana Poczobut (daughter) Jarosław Poczobut (son) |
| Alma mater | Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno |
| Occupation | Journalist, dissident |
Andrzej Poczobut (Belarusian: Андрэй (Анджэй) Пачобут, romanized: Andrej (Andžej) Pačobut, born 16 April 1973) is a Polish and Belarusian journalist, opposition figure, activist of the Polish minority in Belarus and political prisoner who received a Sakharov Prize in 2025 for opposing the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
A correspondent for the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, Poczobut has been arrested more than a dozen times by the government of Belarus. In 2011, he was sentenced to a fine and fifteen days in prison for "participation in the unsanctioned protest rally" following the 2010 presidential election. In 2011 and 2012, he was arrested and detained for allegedly libeling President Alexander Lukashenko in his reports. The charges against Poczobut received international condemnation, with groups including the European Parliament, Reporters Without Borders, and Amnesty International issuing statements in his support. He was arrested again in 2021 and remains in prison as of 2026. He has been described as a political prisoner.