{"id":177683,"date":"2026-03-01T15:00:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/177683\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"statkievic-thanks-belarusians-for-solidarity-calls-for-release-of-all-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/177683\/","title":{"rendered":"Statkievi\u010d thanks Belarusians for solidarity, calls for release of all prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (Belsat)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

March 1, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Opposition politician Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d, liberated from prison last month after a stroke, has expressed his gratitude to Belarusians for their support on his Telegram channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy wife Maryna [Adamovi\u010d] and I sincerely thank everyone who congratulated us on my release, who offered support and stood by us throughout these years,\u201d he said. \u201cThis means even more to us because we know how much effort the ruling regime has made and continues to make to undermine human solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I felt your support, both when letters were still reaching me (I know that many people paid for their solidarity with their own freedom) and later, when I spent three years in complete information isolation. Your warmth surrounded me, and I felt it almost physically,” Statkievi\u010d added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is especially painful to see how many people are still imprisoned. We remember them, stand by their families and will do everything possible to ensure their release. Freedom for all political prisoners,\u201d the politician said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d 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 \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s deal with Washington. All freed people were taken to Lithuania, except for Statkievi\u010d, who refused to leave Belarus and remained at the Belarusian-Lithuanian border crossing for several hours, as confirmed by CCTV footage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2025, the interior ministry informed his family members that he was taken back to prison to serve his original 14-year sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prison authorities stopped giving him necessary medications, replacing them with ineffective alternatives, Statkievi\u010d reportedly told his wife, commenting on the recent months behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UN officials repeatedly contacted Minsk regarding the alleged ill-treatment of the politician in prison, including incommunicado detention, and \u201cthe devastating effect of this ill-treatment on his health due to his advanced age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n \"\"