Imprisoned opposition politician Statkievič has pneumonia

November 24, BPN. Prominent opposition politician Mikałaj Statkievič currently serving a lengthy prison term was placed in the prison medical unit with pneumonia, his wife Maryna Adamovič wrote on Facebook.

Prison authorities did not allow Statkievič’s lawyer to see him on November 23 citing illness, she added.

“I’m not worried, I’m screaming [with anger],” she wrote. “In the last letter I received, Mikałaj told me that he had ‘caught some kind of virus.’ The letter was dated November 10.” Adamovič added that the next day her husband was most likely placed in solitary confinement.

Prison authorities might have held the politician in the punishment cell while he was sick, transferring him to the medical unit only a few days ago, she said.

“It is very painful and distressing,” she said, asking people to pray for her husband.

Police arrested Statkievič in May 2020. He is currently serving a 14-year prison term on politically-motivated charges of organizing mass protests.