Poland suspends freight traffic on border with Belarus from June 1
Poland will close its border with Belarus to Belarusian and Russian freight vehicles from June 1 until further notice, owing to the Belarusian Supreme Court upholding an eight-year prison sentence handed down to a Belarusian-Polish activist.
A decree authorising the closure, signed by Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński, was published in the Journal of Laws on Monday.
On Friday, the Supreme Court in Minsk rejected an appeal by Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and Polish minority leader, against his sentence.
Poczobut was found guilty in February of "intentional actions aimed at inciting hostility and hatred on national, religious and social grounds" in a trial widely regarded as fraudulent.
Poczobut's conviction has darkened Warsaw's relationship with Minsk and led to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between the two countries, and the imposition of border restrictions.
A day after Poczobut's sentence was announced, Poland closed the vital Bobrowniki crossing with Belarus and followed up with further transport restrictions, saying they would be lifted if Poczobut was released.
