Belarusian opposition leader Mikalai Statkevich, who was released by authorities last week in a mass amnesty of political prisoners, has been re-arrested after refusing to leave the country via bus to a neighboring state.
Mikalai Statkevich, a prominent Belarusian opposition leader, has been re-arrested by KGB agents after he refused to leave the country via bus to a neighboring state. The 69-year-old former presidential candidate was initially released last week as part of an amnesty that saw 52 political prisoners, including two Poles, set free by the Belarusian regime. Statkevich, who had been serving a 14-year sentence since 2010, was among those released. However, he controversially refused to leave the country, stating that he did not want President Lukashenko to decide his fate alone.
Statkevich was originally detained in 2010 and sentenced to 14 years in a penal colony for orchestrating what the government termed “mass riots.” According to other political prisoners, Statkevich had expressed his desire to remain with his nation under any circumstances. He was taken by masked KGB agents in a car towards Minsk, and subsequently disappeared for several days without any communication with his family or the public.
Recently, Belarus released 52 political prisoners, including 14 foreign citizens from countries such as Poland, Latvia, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Among those released were Statkevich and Uladzimir Mackievicz, both prominent members of the Belarusian opposition. However, reports state that Statkevich was again re-arrested last month after attempts to convince him to leave the country went unheeded.
