{
  "id": 173,
  "slug": "2023-belarus-sentences-poczobut",
  "title": "Belarus: journalist Andrzej Poczobut sentenced to eight years",
  "occurred_on": "2023-02-08",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "BY",
  "country": "BY",
  "continent": "europe",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
  "leader_slug": "alexander-lukashenko",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
  "outcome": "reversed",
  "outcome_on": "2026-04-28",
  "outcome_note": "Poczobut was freed after 1,860 days as part of a multi-country prisoner exchange; CPJ reported 22 other journalists remained imprisoned in Belarus at the time.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "Belarus sentenced Polish-Belarusian correspondent Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in prison on charges of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions, after holding him since March 2021. He was freed five years later in a multi-country prisoner exchange.{c:659}{c:660}{c:661}{c:662}",
  "what_happened": "Andrzej Poczobut, a correspondent for Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza and a political commentator based in the Hrodna region of Belarus, had already faced repeated prosecution for his reporting on the country's Polish minority, including a suspended sentence for defamation and insulting the president in 2011. Belarusian security forces detained him again in March 2021. On February 8, 2023, a Belarusian court convicted him of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions against Belarus and sentenced him to eight years in prison. The same court proceedings led to the detention of another journalist, Anastasia Sharkevich, who appeared in a video circulated by a pro-government Telegram channel saying she had been arrested by security forces. Poczobut remained imprisoned for a total of 1,860 days before being freed on April 28, 2026, as part of a prisoner exchange involving Belarus, Poland and several other countries.{c:659}{c:660}{c:661}{c:662}\n\nClosed; Poczobut was released in a prisoner exchange after nearly five years in detention.{c:661}{c:662}",
  "stated_justification": "\"convicted Poczobut of inciting hatred and 'calling for sanctions'\"{c:659}{c:660}{c:661}{c:662}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Poczobut's years-long imprisonment removed one of the last correspondents reporting for a foreign outlet on Belarus's Polish minority from inside the country.{c:659}{c:660}{c:661}{c:662}",
  "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not detail the specific statements that formed the basis of the incitement charge.",
  "status": "reversed",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:06Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 8,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:19:33Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:21:16Z",
  "stage": "eliminate",
  "ladder_note": "Belarus sentenced a correspondent to eight years for reporting on its Polish minority and held him nearly five years before an exchange; comparable United States detentions in the record ended in hours, not years.",
  "country_name": "Belarus",
  "tactics": [
    "detention_and_violence"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "alexander-lukashenko",
    "name": "Alexander Lukashenko",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/alexander-lukashenko"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-belarus-sentences-poczobut",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:35:06Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 3,
    "status": "reversed",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not detail the specific statements that formed the basis of the incitement charge."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "alexander-lukashenko",
      "name": "Alexander Lukashenko",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/alexander-lukashenko"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "anastasia-sharkevich",
      "name": "Anastasia Sharkevich",
      "outlet": null,
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/anastasia-sharkevich"
    },
    {
      "slug": "andrzej-poczobut",
      "name": "Andrzej Poczobut",
      "outlet": "belsat-tv",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/andrzej-poczobut"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 659,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 173,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Convicted of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions",
      "statement": "The formal basis of his conviction.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 365,
      "evidence_quote": "convicted Poczobut of inciting hatred and \"calling for sanctions,\"",
      "evidence_date": "2023-02-08",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:03Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 365,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/belarusian-authorities-sentence-journalist-andrzej-poczobut-to-8-years-in-prison-detain-journalist-anastasia-sharkevich/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/belarusian-authorities-sentence-journalist-andrzej-poczobut-to-8-years-in-prison-detain-journalist-anastasia-sharkevich/",
        "title": "Belarusian authorities sentence journalist Andrzej Poczobut to 8 years in prison, detain journalist Anastasia Sharkevich",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2023-02-08",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/659"
    },
    {
      "id": 660,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 173,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "CPJ calls it part of a cycle of repression",
      "statement": "CPJ's characterization of the sentence.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 365,
      "evidence_quote": "Belarusian authorities' sentencing of journalist Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in prison illustrates the government's never-ending cycle of repression",
      "evidence_date": "2023-02-08",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:04Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 365,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/belarusian-authorities-sentence-journalist-andrzej-poczobut-to-8-years-in-prison-detain-journalist-anastasia-sharkevich/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/belarusian-authorities-sentence-journalist-andrzej-poczobut-to-8-years-in-prison-detain-journalist-anastasia-sharkevich/",
        "title": "Belarusian authorities sentence journalist Andrzej Poczobut to 8 years in prison, detain journalist Anastasia Sharkevich",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2023-02-08",
        "link_state": "live",
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        "wayback_url": null,
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      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/660"
    },
    {
      "id": 661,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 173,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "Held 1,860 days before release",
      "statement": "The total length of his detention before the 2026 exchange.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 366,
      "evidence_quote": "Poczobut had been detained for 1,860 days, having been held since March 2021 before his February 2023 sentencing to eight years in prison.",
      "evidence_date": "2026-04-28",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:04Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 366,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2026/04/belarus-frees-journalist-andrzej-poczobut/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2026/04/belarus-frees-journalist-andrzej-poczobut/",
        "title": "Belarus frees journalist Andrzej Poczobut",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2026-04-28",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/661"
    },
    {
      "id": 662,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 173,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "22 other journalists remained imprisoned in Belarus",
      "statement": "Scale of ongoing imprisonment reported at the time of his release.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 366,
      "evidence_quote": "22 journalists remained imprisoned in Belarus as of April 28",
      "evidence_date": "2026-04-28",
      "method": "outlet_report",
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      "confidence": "medium",
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      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:05Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 366,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2026/04/belarus-frees-journalist-andrzej-poczobut/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2026/04/belarus-frees-journalist-andrzej-poczobut/",
        "title": "Belarus frees journalist Andrzej Poczobut",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2026-04-28",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/662"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 365,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/belarusian-authorities-sentence-journalist-andrzej-poczobut-to-8-years-in-prison-detain-journalist-anastasia-sharkevich/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/belarusian-authorities-sentence-journalist-andrzej-poczobut-to-8-years-in-prison-detain-journalist-anastasia-sharkevich/",
      "title": "Belarusian authorities sentence journalist Andrzej Poczobut to 8 years in prison, detain journalist Anastasia Sharkevich",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2023-02-08",
      "link_state": "live",
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      "wayback_url": null,
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    },
    {
      "id": 366,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2026/04/belarus-frees-journalist-andrzej-poczobut/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2026/04/belarus-frees-journalist-andrzej-poczobut/",
      "title": "Belarus frees journalist Andrzej Poczobut",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2026-04-28",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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    },
    {
      "id": 442,
      "url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-summons-belarusian-envoy-after-journalist-is-jailed-2023-02-08/",
      "final_url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-summons-belarusian-envoy-after-journalist-is-jailed-2023-02-08/",
      "title": "Poland summons Belarusian envoy after journalist is jailed",
      "publisher": "Reuters",
      "published_on": "2023-02-08",
      "link_state": "paywalled",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-23T02:35:35Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-belarus-sentences-poczobut/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Belarus: journalist Andrzej Poczobut sentenced to eight years. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-belarus-sentences-poczobut. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}