Former political prisoner, journalist Andrzej Poczobut, signed an application for a rental apartment from the housing stock of the Municipal Social Construction Company (KTBS) in Białystok. The application will now be reviewed by the Housing Commission, after which it will undergo a standard procedure, DzikMedia reports .
"I thank the President of Białystok, Tadeusz Truskolaski, for the invitation to Białystok. From here, it will be much easier for me to continue working for democracy in Belarus, as well as for the benefit of Białystok and the Belarusian minority living here," said Andrzej Poczobut.
Andrzej Poczobut's path to obtaining housing in Białystok will be shorter than standard due to his exceptional services to the city. This possibility is provided for by the founding act of the KTBS company.
"I hope that already in the second half of August, Andrzej Poczobut will be living in Białystok, which will become a second home for this outstanding person. I am also glad that our city will gain such an excellent citizen," said the President of Białystok, Tadeusz Truskolaski.
Andrzej Poczobut himself, however, in a conversation with journalists on the occasion, said that he himself plans to go live in his native Hrodna in September, and will only visit Białystok. The apartment in this city will be permanently used by his children.
"When I visit them (children), I will be at my own place," Poczobut noted.
He added that his daughter has already lived in Białystok for four years, and his son plans to study here in the future.
Andrzej Poczobut is a journalist for Gazeta Wyborcza and one of the leaders of the Polish minority in Belarus. He was detained in Hrodna in March 2021, and in February 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony on charges of "inciting hostility" and "calls for actions aimed at harming national security." The reason for the persecution, among other things, was his publications and views on historical events. Human rights defenders recognized Poczobut as a political prisoner.
On April 28, 2026, he was released after more than five years of imprisonment as part of an exchange between Belarus and Poland and handed over to the Polish side. Poczobut himself insists that his home remains in Hrodna.
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