After former CBA leaders Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik were arrested and detained, Law and Justice politicians referred to them as “the first political prisoners in Poland since 1989”.
Critics of PiS's narrative on the issue argue that the fact that some politicians have been sent to prison does not mean they are political prisoners.
“The characterization of prisoners Maciej Wąsik and Mariusz Kamiński as political prisoners is a deeply unfair distortion that directly damages the memory of people who are actually imprisoned for their beliefs, attitudes, struggle for democracy and human rights,” it said. Statement by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.
According to PiS, Kaminski and Vesik are political prisoners. Tsykhanuskaya shows what it looks like in Belarus
– Considering how the phrase “political prisoner” is misused in Poland, it is worth knowing what such a curse actually is. It's hell – for these people and their loved ones – said Svetlana Tsikhanuskaya on the air of TVN24. One of the leaders of the Belarusian opposition mentioned Andrzej Pozobut, a Polish journalist arrested by Alexander Lukashenko's regime.
– He (Potsobut – ed.) knows that he has not done anything wrong, he is simply spreading the idea of Belarusian democracy, and now he is in prison and they want to break him physically and morally – he explained. According to him, “Lukashenko is doing this primarily to put pressure on his relatives, but he also wants to break people in prison, because Andria is a principled person, he does not want to become a bargaining chip.”
Tsykhanusskaya explained what it means to keep a prisoner in solitary confinement. According to him, the convict in solitary confinement cannot be visited by a lawyer and his mail is not delivered. – In fact, we do not know what happens to a friend, partner, relative in prison. I don't know if my husband is alive or not. I don't know Andrzej's physical condition (Pozobut – ed.) – he said.
Andrzej Pozobut was sentenced
In February 2023, the court in Grodno sentenced the activist of the Polish minority In Belarus, Andrzej Pozzo, but sentenced to eight years in a maximum security facility. The trial was held behind closed doors. The journalist was accused of “inciting hatred”, calling for sanctions and actions to the detriment of Minsk, and activities considered “rehabilitation of Nazism” (publishing historical articles).
Poczobut is in a penal colony. Last August, he was sentenced to six months in solitary confinement.
Also read:
Holovnia: Poland will do everything to make Belarus a free country
(Tags translated) Kaminski and Wisik