Belarus frees journalist Andrzej Poczobut in prisoner swap

Belarus released Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut on Tuesday as part of a multi-country prisoner exchange at the Belarus-Poland border, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced. Poczobut, a correspondent for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a leading figure among Belarus' Polish minority, was serving an eight-year prison sentence handed down in 2023 on charges of inciting ethnic hostility and undermining Belarusian security. Poland has consistently maintained those charges were unjust and politically motivated, and the European Union awarded Poczobut its most prestigious human rights award, the Sakharov Prize, during his imprisonment. The exchange was conducted on a five-for-five basis between Belarus and Poland, with three additional prisoners from other countries also involved. According to Trump's special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, the swap resulted in three Poles and two Moldovans being released from Belarusian custody, with Poland releasing two Russians, including archaeologist Alexander Butyagin. Butyagin had been arrested in Poland in December on charges brought by Ukraine, which accused him of unauthorized excavations and plundering historical artefacts in Crimea. Russia had demanded his release and expressed outrage over his arrest, with the FSB reporting he was exchanged for two Moldovan spies who had been detained in Russia. The prisoner exchange represents the latest development in a warming relationship between Belarus and the West during President Donald Trump's second term. In March, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered the release of 250 political prisoners as part of a deal with Washington that resulted in the lifting of some U.S. sanctions. Belarus, a nation of 9.5 million people, has been largely isolated by Western countries for years due to its crackdown on human rights and its role as a close ally of Russia, allowing Moscow to use Belarusian territory in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Lukashenko has ruled the country with an iron fist for more than three decades.