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Warsaw-backed leaders of Polish community set to come out in support of manager of Polish House in Ivyanets who faces misappropriation charge

Anzelika Borys and other leaders of the Warsaw-backed “unofficial” Union of Poles in Belarus (UPB) plan to arrive at Ivyanets, a small city in the Hrodna region, on Thursday to support Teresa Sobal, manager of the local Polish House who is facing a believed-false misappropriation charge.

Criminal proceedings were instituted against Ms. Sobal on December 18 for allegedly misappropriating funds provided by the leadership of the then single UPB in 2004.

In this connection, the Council of what the Belarusian government insists is the true UPB expelled Ms. Sobal and her husband from the Union and decided that the UPB chapter in Ivyanets, which was chaired by Ms. Sobal, should hold a general meeting on January 21 to elect a new chairperson.

The leaders of the so-called official UPB have already arrived at Ivyanets to attend the meeting.

As Ms. Sobal told BelaPAN, the charge against her came after she accused local government officials of falsifying the process of nominating delegates to a general conference of the official UPB, which took place in Hrodna in September 2009.

Belarusian authorities aim to oust Ms. Sobal and install a person loyal to them, Andrzej Poczobut, a leader of the Warsaw-backed UPB, told BelaPAN, noting that the Sobal-led Ivyanets chapter had always supported the unofficial UPB.