Political Prisoner Mikola Statkevich Transferred to Pukhavichy District :: Charter'97 :: News

The leader of Belarusian Social Democrats, a political prisoner Mikola Statkevich is transferred to serve the sentence to Pukhavichy district, Minsk region. Previously t labour facility, as his elderly father who needs help lives there. The official reason for transferring him is that the politician is registered in Minsk, and he is to serve the sentence in Minsk region. The political prisoner believes that in reality the authorities are transferring him to Baranavichy to continue provocations against him and send him to prison.

“The real reason for transferring me is that the KGB head for Minsk and Minsk region, Major general Kuznyatsou visited Baranavichy recently. He ordered local agencies to make provocations against me to charge me with some criminal act and send me to prison. Drugs were planted to me. They tried to provoke a fight with me, but they failed. In Pukhavichy district I will be more isolated and dependent on that general. However, I can be charged with some violation of the law. I think that my early release hasn’t been discussed at all,” told Mikola Statkevich to the Charter’97 press center.

“The most unpleasant thing is that my father stays in Baranavichy. And he hasn’t become younger or healthier. He is seriously ill and needs care,” Statkevich said.

As we have informed, Mikola Statkevich had been sentenced to two years of restriction of freedom, or so-called corrective labour, for organizing protest rallies in Minsk in autumn -2004 against rigged results of parliamentary elections and referendum on prolongation of Lukashenka’s term in office.