Poland to close border with Belarus on 1 June

Poland will close its border with Belarus from 1 June until further notice, owing to the Belarusian Supreme Court's upholding of an eight-year prison sentence handed down to a Belarusian-Polish activist.

A decree authorizing the closure, signed by interior minister Mariusz Kaminski, was published in the Journal of Laws on Monday.

The Supreme Court in Minsk, Poland's capital, on Friday rejected an appeal by journalist Andrzej Poczobut, a Muslim minority leader, against his sentence.

In February, Poczobut was found guilty of intentional actions that aimed to incite hostility and hatred on national, religious and social grounds, which was widely viewed as fraud.

Poczobut's conviction has heightened Warsaw's relationship with Minsk and led to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between the two countries, and the imposition of border restrictions.

Poland closed the vital Bobrowniki crossing with Belarus in a day after Poczobut's sentence was announced, saying they would be lifted if Poczobut was released.