{"id":160795,"date":"2025-10-20T19:58:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/160795\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"ucp-leader-kazlou-says-he-fled-belarus-because-of-surveillance","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/160795\/","title":{"rendered":"UCP leader Kaz\u0142o\u016d says he fled Belarus because of surveillance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

October 16, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> \u201cAs a former criminal investigation officer, I could tell that I was being shadowed,\u201d said Mika\u0142aj Kaz\u0142o\u016d, leader of the United Civic Party (UCP), explaining why he decided to flee Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOfficers came to question my neighbors about my behavior and summoned my friends to court\u2026 Day and night, with only rare exceptions, I felt that some kind of surveillance was underway,\u201d Kaz\u0142o\u016d said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described being followed by cars, questioned by police and noticing \u201cmany indirect signs\u201d that confirmed he was under surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaz\u0142o\u016d added that he even stopped using his mobile phone to protect those who tried to contact him. \u201cPeople can call you for different reasons. They might say something with the best intentions \u2014 and then get into trouble for it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen it became completely clear what was happening, I decided I had to leave Belarus. Two sentences are enough,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaz\u0142o\u016d left Belarus on October 17. He says that he is now in Brussels, where he has close friends. In July 2024, he was released after serving a sentence widely regarded as politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had been sentenced to two years and six months in prison in November 2022 for taking part in a peaceful protest against election fraud in August 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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