Belarus drops charges against Polish minority activist

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A prominent Polish minority activist has been released from custody in Belarus after the authorities dropped criminal charges against her. The Belarusian Prosecutor General’s office announced Tuesday that the criminal investigation against Andzelika Borys has been terminated, all charges against her have been dropped and she has been freed from house arrest. Borys was arrested in March 2021 and after a year moved to house arrest due to deteriorating health. She was accused of inciting interethnic strife and condoning Nazism — charges that she rejected. About 300,000 of Belarus’ 9.5 million people are ethnic Poles. Belarusian authorities accused the Union of Poles that Borys headed of trying to foment an uprising against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.