Andrzej Poczobut recalled trade union activist during his speech in the European Parliament

Former political prisoner and journalist Andrzej Poczobut, who was released on 28 April 2026 as part of an exchange of Belarusian and Polish prisoners, spoke in the European Parliament on 17 June and mentioned Vatslau Areshka.

Andrzej Poczobut in the European Parliament (photo from his personal Facebook page)

The Sakharov Prize laureate thanked everyone who had fought for his release and for the release of other Belarusian political prisoners. In December last year, the European Parliament awarded him the Andrei Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which was then accepted by his daughter.

It is particularly important that in his speech Poczobut recalled the more than 800 political prisoners and those who remain behind bars in especially difficult conditions. Among them, he named Vatslau Areshka, a political prisoner and activist of the REP trade union.

Vatslau Areshka lost his sight in prison

Poczobut said: “I am grateful that the names of specific Belarusian political prisoners who are in especially difficult conditions were mentioned. Before my eyes, in the summer of 2022, Vyacheslav Oreshko — an elderly and ill man — was losing consciousness because of the heat. I heard that in the following years he lost his sight.”

The Salidarnast Association reminds that more than a thousand political hostages remain in Belarusian prisons, including at least twenty trade union activists. International solidarity remains key to their release and to restoring trade union freedom in Belarus.

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