February 23, Pozirk. Belarusian auhtorities did not return the passport or medical records to opposition politician Mikałaj Statkievič, liberated from prison last week after a stroke, and his current status remains unclear, his wife Maryna Adamovič told LRT.
The lack of documents poses a major problem for ensuring proper medical care, she noted.
“The stroke, or more specifically a cerebral infarction, occurred on January 21. According to Mikałaj, he was taken to a hospital in Minsk that same evening. He is very grateful to the doctors for their professionalism. Today, most of his bodily functions have been restored,” Adamovič said.
Statkievič was arrested ahead of the 2020 presidential election and then sentenced to a lengthy prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated. He was pardoned in September 2025 as part of Łukašenka’s deal with Washington. All freed people were taken to Lithuania, except for Statkievič, who refused to leave Belarus and remained at the Belarusian-Lithuanian border crossing for several hours, as confirmed by CCTV footage.
In November 2025, the interior ministry informed his family members that he was taken back to prison to serve his original 14-year sentence.
Prison authorities stopped giving him necessary medications, replacing them with ineffective alternatives, Statkievič reportedly told his wife, commenting on the recent months behind bars.
UN officials have repeatedly contacted Minsk regarding the alleged ill-treatment of the politician in prison, including incommunicado detention, and “the devastating effect of this ill-treatment on his health due to his advanced age.”
