On Wednesday, the US embassy in Lithuania announced that the regime of Aleksander Lukashenko dismissed 52 political prisoners, including three Poles. They are journalists, collaborators of Television Belsat and other Polish media who informed about the activities of Minsk. Anti -Jelukaszenan opposition veteran – Mikałaj Statkiewicz was also among the people prepared for deportation from Belarus to Lithuania.
“I am a man of honor. I am responsible for my life. Who is Lukashenko to decide where to live? Belarus is my country and I stay here,” he said, quoted by the opposition website Kart 97, Statkiewicz.
Other oppositionists throw slightly more light on the event. “When we came to the border with Lithuania, Statkiewicz practically ran from the bus and ran on the territory of Belarus. He was detained. Then he spent some time in the border belt. Attempts were made to convince him to go to Lithuania. He refused” – said Denis Kuczynski, adviser to the Leader of the Belarusian opposition of the CiChanouska, in a conversation with the service. As a result, he was taken by masked officers and taken deep into the country.
Continued article under video material
Mikałaj Statkiewicz (born in 1956) was a professional soldier. Serving in anti-aircraft and rancile forces, he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Soviet army. However, in protest against the brutal repression of the USSR towards Lithuania in 1991 he dropped the uniform.
After the announcement by Minsk in 1991, independence began political activity. In 1995, he headed the center -right, opposition to the Lukashenka party called Belarusian Social Democratic Hramad (later Belarusian Social Democratic Party). The organization was banned in 2023.
Amnesty International called Mikałaj Statkiewicza “Prisoner of Conscience”
On May 31, 2005, Mikałaj Statkiewicz, together with Paweł Siewierniec, was sentenced to a three -year period of forced labor in connection with the organization of demonstration against electoral falsifications during parliamentary elections. Amnesty International recognized him as a “prisoner of conscience”. He was released in 2006 by amnesty.
Mikałaj Statkiewicz wanted to become the president of Belarus
As “Our Niwa” wrote, in 2010 he announced as a candidate in the presidential election. The results were falsified, and Lukashenka officially won 79.7 percent in the first round. votes. This caused a wave of demonstrations and protests in which Statkiewicz took part. During the investigation, he hungry a protest and refused to testify. The regime sentenced him in 2011 for “organizing mass riots” for six years of penal colony. He ran again in 2015.
Electoral poster Mikałaja Statkiewicza from 2015.Michal Kosc / Reporter / East News
As the Ukrainian “Truth” wrote in 2021, a sentence was announced in the case of six political prisoners accused of organizing “mass riots” in Belarus during the preparation and conduct of the presidential election in 2020. Statkiewicz sat on the bench of the accused, among others together with the presidential candidate Siarhiej Cichanuski. After a process, he was sentenced to 14 years of penal colony behind the closed door.
Mikałaj Statkiewicz was nominated for a peaceful Nobel Prize
The oppositionist also does not forget the free world. As the opposition Belarusian Radio Racyja writes, Statkiewicz received the Sakharów award and the Jose Francisco Pena Gómez award. These are prestigious awards in the world of human rights. He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
