Press release - Exchange of views with Andrzej Poczobut - 2025 Sakharov Prize laureate

MEPs from the Foreign Affairs and Development Committees and the Human rights Subcommittee will meet Andrzej Poczobut in Strasbourg this evening. WHEN: Monday 15 June from 19.00 to 20.00 ECT WHERE: Room: DE MADARIAGA (S3), European Parliament in Strasbourg Imprisoned journalists Andrzej Poczobut, from Belarus, and Mzia Amaglobeli, from Georgia, were the laureates of the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought last December. The exchange of views with Andrzej Poczobut, who was released from jail in April 2026, is held in association with the Delegation for relations with Belarus, and will be webstreamed on the Parliament’s multimedia centre. Background Known for his outspoken criticism of the Lukashenka regime and his writings on history and human rights, Andrzej Poczobut was arrested several times before being sentenced to eight years in a penal colony. Imprisoned in 2021, and sometimes kept in solitary confinement, his health deteriorated in prison and he did not receive the healthcare he needed. A member of the Polish minority in Belarus, the journalist was released in a prisoner exchange between Belarus and Poland on 28 April 2026. Andrzej Poczobut will address plenary on Wednesday 17 June at noon in a formal sitting, after a press point with EP President Roberta Metsola in the protocol area in Strasbourg, around 11.50.