Today Is The Birthday Of Mykola Statkevich
- 12.08.2025, 9:45
The leader of the Belarusian opposition turned 69 years old.
Nikolai Statkevich is meeting his sixth birthday in a row behind bars. There's no information about the politician since February 9, 2023.
Nikola Statkevich was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment, he was accused of "organizing mass riots" (Article 293 of the Criminal Code of Belarus).
Since the beginning of July 2022 - since Nikolai Statkevich started serving his sentence in Hluboka colony.
Nikola Statkevich is kept in the colony in the harshest possible conditions: the politician is kept in solitary confinement in dangerous conditions. It has become known that Nikolai Statkevich contracted COVID-19 several times in detention.
The editor-in-chief of the Charter97.org website Natalia Radina demanded the Belarusian authorities to refute the information received from several sources about the possible death in prison of Nikolai Statkevich.
"Show Nikolai Statkevich, if he is alive, to his nearest and dearest person - Marina Adamovich. Allow them a date or at least a video call!
Otherwise, your silence will mean that the sources are right and the death of another political prisoner is on the conscience of Lukashenko and his punishers," said Natalia Radina.
A number of European politicians joined the action.
What Nikolai Statkevich is known for
In 1991, Statkevich announced the creation of the Belarusian Military Association ("Belaruska zgurtavannya vaiskautsau"), which aimed to "create the Belarusian army, defense of independence and historical and patriotic education of society".
In 1999 Nikolai was one of the organizers of the "Freedom March", directed against the so-called "union state" and the policy of Alexander Lukashenko. "Freedom March" showed the whole world that Belarus is home to a people who prefer the European democratic way of development to medieval dictatorship and barbarism.
In 2005 Statkevich was sentenced to 3 years of restricted freedom for organizing a peaceful demonstration against the falsification of the 2004 referendum results.
In 2010 Nikolai was one of the presidential candidates in the elections. He was arrested after a mass demonstration protesting against the falsification of the presidential election on December 19, 2010. Nikolai spent almost five years behind bars and was released only on August 22, 2015. After his release, Statkevich continued to fight against Lukashenko's regime and took an active part in all the protests.
May 31, 2020, Nikolai Statkevich was detained on the way to a picket, and in December 2021 was sentenced to 14 years in a special regime colony.
We recall that Statkevich spent more than 10 years in prison for his unparalleled courage in resisting the regime. The politician was recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience three times. Even in prison, Nikolai Statkevich remains a symbol of fortitude for Belarusians.