Poczobut: I will go to Belarus in early September. I'll finish a few more things and go
The journalist and former political prisoner once again announced his intention to return to Belarus, writes "Salidarnasc".
— Of course, I'm going to Belarus. I am from Grodno, from Ponemon. And this is my homeland — Hrodna region, — Andrei Poczobut emphasized in an interview with one of the Polish channels.
— When I recently went to Vilnius, and there in the Vilnius region I heard our local Polish border language, the climate there is the same, because it's actually one region, I felt that I was already very close to home, there was such strong nostalgia.
— Undoubtedly, I want to go home and will go in early September. I'll finish a few more things and go.
I know that not everyone considers this correct. In Poland, a poll was even conducted, and almost 80% are convinced that I should not return home. Their main argument is that here I will do much more than there.
None of those who acted during the Polish People's Republic (until 1989), those with whom I spoke, are convinced by such arguments.
Because every person understands that they are separated from their community, which is in absolutely different circumstances. And you don't have the right to speak on their behalf.
Many Poles found themselves in a similar situation when the war caught them abroad, and they also faced a dilemma — to return or not. But you can see that many returned, after which they ended up in prisons.
— How do you imagine crossing the border into Belarus?
— You hand over your passport, they check it, put some stamp or not — and you pass through. That's how I imagine it.
And what will happen next, we will find out soon. It won't be long.
Andrei Poczobut is a journalist for Gazeta Wyborcza and one of the leaders of the Polish minority in Belarus. He was detained in Grodno in March 2021, and in February 2023 he was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony on charges of "inciting hostility" and "calls for actions aimed at harming national security." The reason for the persecution, among other things, was his publications and views on historical events.
On April 28, 2026, he was released after more than five years of imprisonment as part of an exchange between Belarus and Poland and handed over to the Polish side. Poczobut himself insists that his home remains in Grodno.
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