Pavel Seviarynets: Belarusians should unite around proposing Statkevich as presidential candidate

The campaign's initiative group already has 500 people.

Pavel Seviarynets, a former political prisoner and co-head of the organising committee to create the Belarusian Christian Democracy party, told charter97.org that stricter confinement conditions for Mikalai Statkevich demonstrated the state of things in Belarus and showed Lukashenka in his true colour.

“Firstly, it is a mockery, an unhidden mockery. The Austrian foreign minister and the delegation from the Bundestag visited Belarus on that day. Lukashenka says work with me as I am. I will jail opposition politicians, but you will discuss political and economic issues with me. This is his message,” the politician thinks.

– What is the proper reaction to this lawlessness?

– It is important to find the answer in this situation to Belarusian society, on the one hand, and to the West, on the other hand. Belarusian society should unite around demands of freedom for Statkevich and other political prisoners. A campaign to propose Statkevich as a presidential candidate has been launched. We are gathering the initiative group now. Christian democrats already get signatures of more than 500 people, and the process goes on. This step of solidarity should show two things. The first one is that Statkevich, the 2010 presidential candidate, is still in prison. How is it possible to speak about any elections in this situation? We have no elections, no laws work in the country, the famous politician, who ran for presidency, has been in prison for almost 5 years for nothing. It demonstrates the “openness” of the regime to the dialogue and Lukashenka as a “peacekeeper” and a “liberal”.

– Do Europeans not see what is happening? It is not the first time when trials have taken place during visits of EU officials.

– I think European officials see and understand everything, but close their eyes to it. However, it doesn't always work in Europe, because every European country has opposition and every European country has people who say when someone acts dishonestly or closes eyes to the obvious injustice. Such a policy towards Belarus will provoke a negative reaction in many European countries.

– Why then do EU politicians close their eyes to the obvious injustice?

– Geopolitical interests and economic issues, as well as attempts to carry out a pragmatic policy, are obvious reasons. But we believe that Europe is based on values, that Europe is the result of the 2000-year Christian civilisation, so the very roots and foundation of Europe suppose that European politicians should take the side of the truth. Europe needs the politicians of a higher level than Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher, the politicians who would show both Putin and Lukashenka their place.

Statkevich, an opposition politician and former presidential candidate, stood trial on May 4 in correctional facility No.17 in Shklou. He was transferred to a stricter prison for the rest of his term (1 year, 7 months and 15 days). Mikalai Statkevich was accused of violating prison rules and failure to obey prison staff. According to his wife Maryna Adamovich, he had more than 10 violations, most of them refusals to clean the territory. Cleaning works must be performed by inmates by turn not more than 2 hours a day, but these rules were not applied to the political prisoner, which was regarded by him as a mockery. On March 24, the politician filed an application saying he refuses to work, after which pressure on him increased.

Mikalai Statkevich is the only candidate at the 2010 presidential elections who is still in prison. He was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment in May 2011 for organising mass disorders on the election day. International human rights organisations recognised Statkevich as a political prisoner.

The politician began to serve his term in correctional facility No.17 in Shklou, but was transferred to stricter prison No.4 in Mahilou for three years in January 2012. Statkevich returned to Shklou in January 2015 and got two warnings for violating prison rules in the first two days.