Andrzej Poczobut has declared that he intends to return to Belarus. “I intend to return to Hrodna. There are thousands of Poles there. Without a doubt, I am very much needed there,” he said. He was imprisoned for more than five years by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. He was released at the end of April.
In an interview with Radio Białystok, Poczobut noted that he plans to return to Hrodna once his health improves.
“Once I recover, once doctors say that all the indicators are good, I intend to return to Hrodna. Before that, I need to be sure that everything with my health is in order,” he said.
When asked whether this would be too risky, he replied that there are thousands of Poles there, and that the Union of Poles in Belarus operates there, and that he is undoubtedly needed. At the same time, he thanked the residents of Białystok and all those who, for more than five years, took part every month in solidarity demonstrations in his support.
“Thank you very much. I would like to sincerely thank the city of Białystok, its residents, for their solidarity, for the actions that were undertaken, but I also want to thank you for taking in our people who were forced to leave their apartments and homes,” said Poczobut in the interview.
He added that he had been aware of what was happening in Białystok.
“I knew about this solidarity, and it was what gave me strength, what built the conviction that I had not been forgotten, that beyond the prison walls there are thousands upon thousands of people who remember, pray, keep their fingers crossed for me – and that conviction strengthened me, that I am not alone,” he emphasized.
At a square near the monument to Jerzy Popiełuszko in Białystok, an installation featuring Poczobut’s image still stands. The word – free – has now been added to it.
Let us recall that Andrzej Poczobut, a Belarusian citizen, had been behind bars since March 2021. He was initially held in pre-trial detention, and after a trial and conviction in a political case, he was sent to a penal colony in Novopolotsk in northern Belarus. He was sentenced to eight years in a high-security prison for allegedly “inciting hatred” and “calling for actions against state security.”