Belarusian prison rejects letter from wife to imprisoned opposition leader

July 24, BPN. A Belarusian prison has rejected a parcel from the wife of an opposition leader who was sentenced to 14 years in jail for organizing mass protests against the authoritarian regime.

Maryna Adamovič said on Facebook that her parcel to her husband, Mikoła Statkievič, was returned by the administration of Hłybokaje’s Penal Colony No 13. The post office coupon said “Refused to receive.”

Statkievič, the chairman of the banned Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada), was arrested in May 2020 and convicted in December 2021. He was placed in solitary confinement and added to a list of extremists by the interior ministry.

There has been no news from Statkievič for five and a half months. He is one of several prominent political prisoners whose whereabouts and health are unknown, including former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka and journalist Ihar Łosik.