A Belarus court on Friday rejected an appeal by a jailed Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut against his 8-year prison sentence, which he received for reporting critically about President Alexander Lukashenko's regime.

The Supreme Court of Belarus said in a statement that the sentence was "left unchanged." 

"The verdict has come into force," the court said.

What was Poczobut accused of?

Andrzej Poczobut, a 50-year-old correspondent for leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza and an active member of the Polish minority in Belarus, was sentenced in February.

Poczobut, who stood trial in his home city of Grodno near the Polish border, was found guilty of taking part in "actions harming national security" and "inciting hatred."

He had extensively reported on mass protests against Lukashenko and refused to leave Belarus after authorities unleashed a historic crackdown on dissent.

Since brutally putting down anti-government protests in 2020, the Minsk regime has jailed hundreds and forced most critics into exile. According to human rights group Viasna, there are currently 1,511 political prisoners in Belarus.

Poland promises new sanctions

Poland, an EU member and Belarus's neighbor, has condemned the trial and called for Poczobut's release. After the journalist's appeal was rejected, Warsaw said it would slap new punitive measures on Lukashenko's regime next week.

"On Monday, I will announce the decision to add to the sanctions list several hundred representatives of the Lukashenko regime responsible for political repression, including repression against Poles living in Belarus," Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Twitter.

Poland has become a hub for exiled Belarusians, and Minsk often singles out Warsaw as a particular threat. Lukashenko had repeatedly accused neighboring Poland of being behind the protests.

Almost 300,000 people make up the Polish minority in Belarus, a country of some 10 million inhabitants.

dh/nm (AFP, dpa, Reuters)