16/09/2026
🏆 Andrzej Poczobut, laureatul Premiului Platformei Memoriei și Conștiinței Europene 2026
Membrii Platformei Memoriei și Conștiinței Europene l-au desemnat pe jurnalistul și activistul pentru drepturile minorității poloneze din Belarus Andrzej Poczobut drept laureat al Premiului Platformei 2026.
Jurnalist independent și apărător al drepturilor omului, Poczobut a fost arestat de autoritățile belaruse în martie 2021 și condamnat, în februarie 2023, la opt ani de detenție. A fost eliberat la 28 aprilie 2026, după mai mult de cinci ani petrecuți în detenție.
Premiul acordat de Platformă recunoaște angajamentul său pentru libertatea de exprimare, drepturile omului și păstrarea memoriei istorice.
IICCMER este membru al Platformei Memoriei și Conștiinței Europene încă de la înființarea acesteia, la 14 octombrie 2011. Platforma reunește instituții și organizații europene implicate în cercetarea trecutului totalitar și în păstrarea memoriei victimelor regimurilor represive.
Felicitări, Andrzej Poczobut!
🏆 We are delighted to announce the laureate of the Prize of the Platform 2026 – Andrzej Poczobut.
In a democratic vote open to all members of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, Andrzej Poczobut was chosen by a clear majority of votes as this year’s laureate.
📰Andrzej Poczobut (b. 1973) is a Belarusian independent journalist, activist of the Polish minority in Belarus, and a long-time prisoner of conscience of Lukashenka’s regime. Since becoming an independent journalist in the late 1990s, he has consistently stood up for freedom of speech, human rights and the truth about Belarus’s past and present.
⚖️ For his commitment to these values, Poczobut faced years of persecution, intimidation, arrests, searches and confiscation of his property. Tried in three consecutive criminal cases and convicted in two, he spent a total of seven years in some of the harshest Belarusian prisons and labour camps (‼️). One of the charges against him was connected to his efforts to preserve the memory of the heroes of the anti-totalitarian resistance during and after the Second World War.
Released in 2026 following international pressure, including from the European Union and the United States, Andrzej Poczobut now resides in Poland and is receiving medical treatment for illnesses contracted during his imprisonment. Despite everything he has endured, he has publicly stated that he intends to return to Belarus and continue his struggle for human rights.
▶️ We are proud that such a courageous and principled person will receive the Prize of the Platform 2026. His story is a powerful reminder that defending truth, freedom and historical memory can come at an enormous personal cost — and that there are people who remain committed to these values regardless of the price.
🎉 Congratulations, Andrzej Poczobut! 🕊️
Photo credit: Mariusz Kubik / CC BY 4.0