Анджей Почобут. Фото из зала суда: Алексей Бибиков, "Советская Белоруссия".
Political prisoner and journalist Andrzej Pochobut has been awarded the Order of the White Eagle. The announcement was made by Polish President Karol Nawrocki during an awards ceremony marking Independence Day. The country’s highest state decoration was also presented today to writer and publicist Waldemar Łysiak.
“Only one recipient of the Order of the White Eagle is with us today, ladies and gentlemen, because the other is in a Belarusian prison, in the prison of the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Andrzej Pochobut is not with us today because he himself, though undeservingly, chose imprisonment.
Despite being persecuted by the Belarusian regime since 2011 and 2012, he did not leave Belarus, continuing to fight for the values that are dear to him. And every day that Andrzej Pochobut spends in a Belarusian prison is a day of victory of good over evil. Although this brings great suffering to him and his family, it is precisely thanks to this sacrifice that every day is a victory of good over evil.
This award in absentia to Andrzej Pochobut is important to me as President of Poland and, I believe, to the entire Republic of Poland. It sends a clear signal that Poland will always defend its sons — those who live for Poland, who fight for their native language, and for whom the value of Polishness is worth suffering in a Belarusian prison.
I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that I will have the opportunity to personally present the Order of the White Eagle to Andrzej Pochobut, and we will strive for him to regain his freedom. Andrzej Pochobut is a symbol of resilience and steadfastness in his values,” Nawrocki said.
The Order of the White Eagle is Poland’s oldest and highest state decoration. It is awarded for outstanding civil and military merit in service to the Republic of Poland, both in peacetime and wartime. The order is bestowed upon the most eminent Poles and high-ranking foreign dignitaries.