Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish-Belarusian journalist and political prisoner under the Lukashenka regime, is the ECR's nominee for the 2025 Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought.

ECR MEP Małgorzata Gosiewska, who championed Mr Poczobut’s nomination, said the decision should reassure the people of Belarus that the European Union will never abandon them in their desire for democracy and freedom.

She said:

“Andrzej Poczobut is a hero of free speech and free thinking who has never bowed to the evil Lukashenka regime, despite years of imprisonment.

“He has never compromised his beliefs or his duty to speak out for all those people in Belarus who long for freedom and democracy.”

Currently half-way through an eight-year sentence of imprisonment with hard labour, Andrzej Poczobut was one of the leaders of the Union of Poles in Belarus.

“He has been subject to years of arbitrary arrests, detention, property searches and seizures, yet still resists pressure from the regime to admit guilt or request a pardon,” Gosiewska said.

“Our nomination of this courageous and inspirational individual is a broader sign of our steadfast support for opposition democratic voices in the dictatorship of Belarus.”