March 12, Pozirk. Belarusian opposition politician Mikałaj Statkievič was awarded the Homo Homini Prize, celebrating his “unwavering courage and exceptional contribution to the democratic movement in Belarus,” Radyjo Svaboda reported.
The politician’s wife Maryna Adamovič accepted the award at the opening of the 28th Jeden Svět International Documentary Film Festival yesterday in Prague.
Statkievič dedicated all his efforts to defending democracy, and his courage was particularly evident when he resisted attempts to be forcibly deported from his country after being pardoned, the festival organizers noted.
The Homo Homini Award is presented annually by the Czech NGO People in Need and recognizes contributions to defending human rights and democracy. Belarusian rights defenders Marfa Rabkova, Andrej Čapiuk, Leanid Sudalenka and Tacćiana Łasica were among the laureates in 2020.
Statkievič was arrested months before the 2020 presidential election and then sentenced to 14 years in prison term on charges of organizing mass unrest, although large-scale protests broke out two months later. His case is 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 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.”
Last month, he was liberated after suffering a stroke in prison and is currently recovering at home.
