{"id":176531,"date":"2026-02-20T13:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176531\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"lukasenkas-spokeswoman-statkievic-freed-at-his-familys-request","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176531\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka’s spokeswoman: Statkievi\u010d freed at his family’s request"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (hramada.org)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

February 20, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Opposition politician Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d’s relatives requested that he be released home after his recent illness and medical treatment, and Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka granted their request, his spokeswoman Natalla Eijsmant has told Russia\u2019s RIA Novosti<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian ruler decided to pardon Statkievi\u010d a long time ago, she said, referring to the liberation of 52 Belarusian dissidents in September 2025 as part of \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s deal with Washington. All freed people were taken to Lithuania, except for Statkievi\u010d, who refused to leave Belarus and remained at the Belarusian-Lithuanian border crossing for several hours, as confirmed by CCTV footage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2025, the interior ministry informed his family members that he was taken back to prison to serve his original 14-year sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d refused to go to “paradise” and returned to prison, where he suffered a stroke later, Ejsmant said. The politician was hospitalized after \u0141uka\u0161enka was informed of his condition, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viasna Human Rights Center reported on Statkievi\u010d\u2019s release yesterday, citing his wife Maryna Adamovi\u010d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The politician was arrested ahead of the 2020 presidential election and then sentenced to a lengthy prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated. In 2022, Belarusian authorities designated him as an \u201cextremist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UN officials have repeatedly contacted Minsk regarding the alleged ill-treatment of the politician in prison, including incommunicado detention, and \u201cthe devastating effect of this ill-treatment on his health due to his advanced age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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