Speaker Hołownia responds to Polish Media Council call regarding Andrzej Poczobut

In a document dated Dec. 6, Hołownia also said he was very concerned with information regarding cases of violation of the rights of Poles in Belarus and of the freedom of speech".

"I am aware of the scale of repressions imposed by the Belarusian regime against journalists who risk their lives fighting for independent and free media. Andrzej Poczobut is a symbol of fight for the truth as well as for the rights of the Polish minority," he added.

"As the Marshal of the Polish Sejm I shall take all action possible in defence of Andrzej Poczobut and other arrested, in order to free them," Hołownia declared.

The Polish Media Council, which is a self-regulatory organization of Polish press, radio, television and internet editorial offices, on Nov. 23 published a resolution in defence of journalists imprisoned in Belarus.

The members of the organization are editors-in-chief and deputy editors-in-chief of Polish media.

"The Polish Media Council calls upon the Marshals of the Sejm and the Senate to take action in all possible fields, including in international organizations and at the European Union forum, in order to free Andrzej Poczobut and other Polish media journalists sentenced to prison in Belarus," the Council wrote.

"There is no freedom without free media. There is no free Belarus without journalists doing their work without fear of their life and health."

Andrzej Poczobut is a journalist and activist of the Polish minority in Belarus. He has been in custody since March 25, 2021, and on February 8, 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony. Since his appeal against the sentence has been rejected, Poczobut remains in the penal colony in Novopolotsk.