{"id":176604,"date":"2026-02-20T18:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T15:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/176604\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","slug":"knight-mikola-statkievic-defeats-the-system-at-the-cost-of-his-health","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/176604\/","title":{"rendered":"Knight Miko\u0142a: Statkievi\u010d defeats the system at the cost of his health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Veteran Belarusian politician Miko\u0142a Statkievi\u010d was released from prison on February 19. However, freedom came at a high price: he suffered a stroke behind bars.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n (Radyjo Svaboda, pixabay.com, be.wikipedia.org \/ Pozirk's collage)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d, leader of the Narodnaja Hramada Social Democratic Party, was one of 52 Belarusian dissidents liberated five months ago as part of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s deal with Washington. All those freed were taken to Lithuania, except for Statkievi\u010d, who refused to leave Belarus and remained for several hours at the Kamienny \u0141oh border checkpoint on the Belarusian\u2013Lithuanian border, as confirmed by CCTV footage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ejsmant casts \u0141uka\u0161enka as a humanist<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst, I want to remind you that the decision to pardon Statkievi\u010d was taken by the president long ago,\u201d Natalla Ejsmant, spokeswoman for the Belarusian leader, said on February 20. \u201cBut then Statkievi\u010d refused to go to the garden of Eden [Lithuania] and went back to prison.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is clearly a false statement. Statkievi\u010d returned to Belarus, not to prison. If he had truly been pardoned at that time, why was he taken back into custody?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When \u0141uka\u0161enka was informed that the oppositionist had suffered an infarction (his wife, Maryna Adamovi\u010d, says it was a stroke), \u201cthe head of state took the decision to immediately transfer Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d to a hospital, where all necessary and timely care was provided, and he was saved,\u201d Ejsmant said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this remark, she attempted to portray the Belarusian ruler as a humanist. In fact, her words expose a fundamental flaw of the system: officials are unable to provide urgent medical care to a prisoner in critical condition without approval from the head of state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should be noted that \u0141uka\u0161enka was perfectly aware of Statkievi\u010d\u2019s health problems. \u201cThe man is approaching the end,\u201d he said in September, commenting on the politician\u2019s refusal to leave Belarus. \u201cHe will die soon. God forbid, he dies in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prison officials might well have watched Statkievi\u010d die without providing adequate medical assistance. However, \u0141uka\u0161enka understood that a death in custody would have been a setback in negotiations with US President Donald Trump over a potential grand bargain \u2014 the release of a large number of political prisoners in exchange for sanctions relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is his version of humanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Street fighter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d\u2019s decision to reject exile and risk returning to prison deserves enormous respect. Those who know him well were not surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former missile forces colonel, Statkievi\u010d has been active in politics since the late 1980s. He founded the Belarusian Association of Military Servicemen, which advocated the creation of an army independent of Russian influence and the use of Belarusian rather than Russian in the army\u2019s daily operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has led Narodnaja Hramada since 1995 and is known as a \u201cstreet fighter\u201d \u2014 a leader of anti-government protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999, he led the March for Freedom in Minsk, which drew tens of thousands of participants and ended in clashes with police a few hundred meters from \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2005, he was sentenced to three years of \u201crestricted freedom\u201d in an open-type correctional facility for organizing a demonstration against alleged fraud in a referendum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five years later, he was given a six-year prison sentence for his role in a mass protest against election fraud that ended in clashes, dispersal and arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d refused to ask \u0141uka\u0161enka for a pardon, but the Belarusian ruler released him in 2015 as he sought to improve ties with the West ahead of a new presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d was the last political prisoner to be released at that time, and he walked out of prison unbroken, claiming a moral victory over the autocrat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, he was arrested two months before the election, as \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja\u2019s campaign was gaining momentum. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison on trumped-up charges. Had he remained free until August, pro-democracy forces might have had a stronger chance of ousting \u0141uka\u0161enka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pantheon of heroes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d has always taken pride in his noble ancestors \u2014 brave warriors, as he describes them. He has often stressed that he inherited good health from his father and used every opportunity in prison to exercise. However, conditions resembling medieval torture eventually took their toll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People admire his courage. Yet not everyone is strong or fearless enough to withstand the pressure of the system as he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who ask \u0141uka\u0161enka for a pardon or reluctantly accept forced deportation should not be treated as second-class citizens. This, too, is a morally justified choice. When free, they can contribute more effectively to the common cause. Moreover, every human life is a supreme value in itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, those who advocate sanctions relief in exchange for the release of political prisoners should not be dismissed as people of elastic conscience. \u201cFighting the dictator until we win\u201d may sound noble, but not everyone can survive in prison until that day comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Statkievi\u010d, he remains what he has always been: a fighter, a warrior, a knight \u2014 a hero in the pantheon of a future Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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