Poland's Minister of the Interior and Administration Mariusz Kamiński has announced he will add names of hundreds of Lukashenko regime members to the sanctions list. The decision is a response to Belarusian Supreme Court's decision to uphold the "draconian sentence" for Polish-Belarusian journalist and activists Andrzej Poczobut.
"Due to the upholding of the draconian sentence against Andrzej Poczobut, on Monday I will announce the decisions to add to the sanctions list hundreds of Lukashenko regime representatives responsible for political repressions, including repressions against Poles living in Belarus," Poland's Minister of the Interior and Administration Mariusz Kamiński said in a tweet on Friday.
After Poczobut had been sentenced to 8 years in prison in February, Kamiński ordered Polish services to prepare motions to sanction a further group of people associated with Alexander Lukashenko's regime responsible for repressions against Polish people in Belarus.
"Upholding the sentence of 8 years in prison for Andrzej Poczobut clearly shows the ill-will of the Belarusian authorities regarding representatives of the Polish national minority in Belarus," Poland's MFA said on Twitter.
"We continue to call for the release of all political prisoners and an end to repression."
Poland shuts Belarus border for cargo
Poland will also close its eastern border to freight vehicles registered in Belarus and Russia until further notice, according to a draft regulation published on Friday by the interior ministry.
According to the justification of the regulation, the decision was necessary to "ensure public safety".
Poland had previously closed some border crossings with Belarus following Poczobut's imprisonment and the expulsion of Polish diplomats by Minsk. The Belarusian foreign ministry could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.
Migrant crisis at the border
Belarus has previously said that Polish decisions to close border crossings were irrational and dangerous, accusing Warsaw of causing long delays and failing to implement bilateral agreements. Poland has been an important refuge for opponents of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, and Warsaw has become one of Kyiv's staunchest supporters since Belarus' main ally Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Poland also accuses Belarus of artificially creating a migrant crisis on the border by flying in people from the Middle East and Africa and attempting to push them across the frontier. While the numbers of migrants crossing are lower than at the peak of the crisis in 2021, the Polish Border guard reports dozens of attempts to enter Poland illegally daily.
Belarusian crackdown on dissidents
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.
Poczobut was charged with inciting actions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus
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.
Hundreds of Belarusians who were jailed during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests that erupted in the summer of 2020 following a disputed presidential election.
Those rights advocates estimate there are around 1,500 political prisoners in Belarusian prisons.
Around 50,000 people have been detained for taking part in protests or criticising the authorities since 2020, they say.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, Reuters