Incarcerated opposition activist Andrzej Poczobut placed on Lukashenka's "list of terrorists"

Andrzej Poczobut is a Belarusian and Polish journalist and activist of the Polish minority in Belarus. He was arrested in March, 2021, as part of a government crackdown on Polish minority in Belarus.

Leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus Andżelika Borys had been also arrested at the time, but she was released in March this year. Three other activists from regional branches of the organisation were also released, but forced to leave Belarus.

In late August this year, Poczobut said in a letter he wrote in prison that he was waiting for trial in expectation to be sent down to a labour camp.

"Thanks for the memory and concern regarding my fate. Obviously, it's very nice to know you weren't forgotten, even though my captivity has lasted 17 months. Things are stable. Prison, cell, bars - all of it is already familiar and homely :)" - Poczobut wrote.

"I'm under no illusion as to the outcome (of the trial - edit.), I will calmly hear the verdict and go to the labor camp with clear conscience. Well, such is my fate. I always knew that when times like these come to Belarus, I will end up in prison. As my current reality shows, I was not wrong," the incarcerated journalist said in the letter.

Belarusian human rights organisations, Polish authorities and the international community have called the persecution of Polish minority in Belarus activists as "politically motivated" show trials being part of a wave of attacks on civic society in Belarus and freedom of speech.

Viasna Human Rights Centre - delegalised by the Lukashenka regime - also informed that four other people have been added to the "list of terrorists". As of now, there are 179 names on the list. One of them is a leader of Belarusian opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.