Washington DC [US], May 12: US President Donald Trump on Sunday said five prisoners from Poland and Moldova had been released from detention in Belarus and Russia.
"We just secured the release of three Polish, and two Moldovan, prisoners from Belarusian and Russian detention," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, crediting his envoy John Coale with helping secure the release. Trump also thanked Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko for his "cooperation and friendship." One of those freed was prominent Polish-language journalist Andrzej Poczobut, 53, whose release from prison in Belarus was announced by Polish officials at the end of April as part of a prisoner exchange.
"My friend, President Karol Nawrocki, of Poland, met with me last September, and asked me to help secure Andrzej Poczobut from Belarusian prison," Trump said. "Today, Poczobut is free due to our efforts. The United States delivers for our Allies, and Friends," the US president added.
Poczobut, a member of the Polish minority in Belarus, worked for the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza from the authoritarian-ruled country for a long time. He was arrested in 2021 and remained in detention before being sentenced in July 2023 to eight years in a penal colony in a trial widely seen as politically motivated.
Earlier this year, Lukashenko released 250 political prisoners after talks with a US delegation led by Coale.
Source: Qatar Tribune