US EditionBelarusian Politician Mikola Statkevich Returned to Prison After Refusing 'Forced Deportation'
Statkevich, sentenced on politically motivated charges, refused deportation at Belarus–Lithuania border and was returned to prison amid 1,246 political prisoners in Belarus, rights group says.
- On Tuesday, Belarusian opposition politician Mikola Statkevich was returned to prison after refusing to leave Belarus following a U.S.-brokered deal; the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs told Maryna Adamovich he continues to serve his sentence.
- Placed on a bus with other released prisoners, Statkevich refused to exit at the Belarus–Lithuania border, rejecting what he described as a 'forced deportation' and waiting hours in no-man's land.
- Decades of activism have led Statkevich to three imprisonments and more than 12 years behind bars, and his wife Maryna Adamovich says she has no information on his health after a reported heart attack.
- Pavel Sapelka of Viasna called the expulsions legal chaos and said pardoned prisoners should have been free, while sanctions were lifted from Belavia and Minsk and Washington plan talks in December.
- The incident underscores the wider challenge of political repression and its diplomatic consequences as Viasna counts 1,246 political prisoners, including Ales Bialiatski, while Minsk and Washington plan talks in December amid President Alexander Lukashenko's recent efforts to repair ties.
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15 Articles
Belarusian politician Mikola Statkevich returned to prison after refusing ‘forced deportation’
Belarusian politician Mikola Statkevich has been returned to prison after being freed in a U.S.-brokered deal but refusing to leave his native country, activists aid Tuesday.
Associated Press News
Belarusian politician Mikola Statkevich returned to prison after refusing 'forced deportation'
Belarusian politician Mikola Statkevich, who was freed from prison in a U.S.-brokered deal but refused to leave his native country, has been returned to prison.
Nuremberg - Berk is gay and therefore two years ago fled from Turkey to Germany. In his home country he fears violence - also on the part of his family. Now he is to be deported. Surprising, not only for him.
The Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs replied to Mikola Statkevich's relatives that he was serving a sentence in accordance with a four-year-old court verdict. However, in September this year, he was pardoned along with other prisoners. Svaboda asked lawyers how this relates to the law and international norms.
In Ukraine, an 18-year-old Maria Misyuk was returned from Belarus prison and her family left for Belarus in 2022, and in 2024 the Silovikis detained a girl and accused her of creating an "anarchist cell to prepare terrorist attacks." Mary and 30 Ukrainian prisoners, Alexander Lukashenko, pardoned last Saturday.
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