Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, who was imprisoned in 2021 before being released in April 2026, addressed the European Parliament in a formal sitting on Wednesday after receiving the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola formally presented the prize to Poczobut, which had originally been awarded jointly to him and Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli in December 2025 while both were still imprisoned in their respective countries.
Welcoming Poczobut, Metsola said the award recognised not only his courage but also “the values he refused to abandon despite years of unjust imprisonment”. She said his release offered hope while reinforcing Europe’s commitment to defending those persecuted for speaking the truth, defending democracy or exercising their fundamental freedoms.
Addressing MEPs, Poczobut thanked the European Parliament for its support, saying its voice had reached him while he was in prison.
“I learnt about being awarded the Sakharov Prize and about the European Parliament’s earlier statements whilst I was in prison,” he said, adding that Parliament’s concern for his fate had influenced the behaviour of prison guards.
Poczobut said repeated attacks on the Polish minority in Belarus formed part of what he described as “the anti-European crusade led by Alexander Lukashenka for decades.”
He also highlighted what he described as the absence of freedom of expression and press freedom in Belarus, the exclusion of critical international correspondents from the country and the monitoring of critical voices on social media by the authorities.
Referring to the 854 political prisoners still detained in Belarus, including 21 journalists, Poczobut also spoke about what he described as the global rise of authoritarianism and called for the immediate release of his fellow 2025 Sakharov Prize laureate, Mzia Amaglobeli, who remains imprisoned in Georgia.
Concluding his address, Poczobut described the situation in Belarus as “extremely dramatic” and said that long-term efforts to promote democracy and human rights, support grassroots initiatives in authoritarian states and strengthen independent media would ultimately help unite Europe and enable Belarus to become part of Europe in more than a geographical sense.
Poczobut, a representative of the Union of Poles in Belarus and a historian and journalist with more than 20 years of experience, was imprisoned for his work defending the Polish language and culture as well as for his journalism.
Named after Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded annually since 1988 to individuals, groups and organisations recognised for their work in support of human rights, freedom of expression and democratic values. In 2020, the prize was awarded to the democratic opposition in Belarus.
