{"id":198894,"date":"2026-08-06T17:20:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T14:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198894\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T17:20:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T14:20:05","slug":"statkievic-blames-prison-stroke-on-denial-of-vital-medication","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198894\/","title":{"rendered":"Statkievi\u010d blames prison stroke on denial of vital medication"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Still from a video posted by Statkievi\u010d in his Telegram channel)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

August 6, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Veteran opposition politician Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d said in an interview with Die Zeit<\/em> that his stroke in the final months of imprisonment had been caused by the denial of access to vital medications by the administration of his correctional institution in H\u0142ybokaje, Viciebsk region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Statkievi\u010d\u2019s return to prison in September 2025, the administration allegedly tightened the screws on the 69-year-old inmate and replaced efficient medicines for arrhythmia and post-COVID-19 treatment that had been sent by his wife with Belarusian-made aspirin. Prison doctors told him later this could have provoked the stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d said that he was released a month later because the regime \u201cdidn\u2019t want to bear responsibility\u201d for his death in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recalling the authorities\u2019 attempt to deport him to Lithuania along with dozens of other prisoners released by Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka under a deal with Washington in September 2025, Statkievi\u010d said that he refused to leave the country upon arrival at the Lithuanian border. \u201cI want to decide myself where I live, even if that means prison,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d said that he remains unaware of his current legal status. State media reported that he had been pardoned, but he has received no official confirmation of that from the authorities. Statkievi\u010d said that he would not leave Belarus despite offers of treatment abroad. \u201cLeaving would mean abandoning millions of Belarusians who still live here,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d said that Belarusian authorities continue large-scale persecution of their political opponents for fear of new protests. He warned that any new protests in the future \u201cmay not be as peaceful as in 2020.\u201d \u201cPeople hate the dictator even more, and he feels it,\u201d Statkievi\u010d said. \u201cI think Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka sleeps at night worse than I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about Western policy toward Minsk, Statkievi\u010d described it as \u201crational,\u201d but expressed opposition to isolating Belarusian society. \u201cPeople must be able to see what exists beyond Belarus and Russia and to visit relatives in the EU,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d would not directly answer a question about Western sanctions, citing Belarusian legislation carrying a lengthy prison sentence for calls for sanctions. Instead, he joked that the question should be put to his legally trained wife Maryna Adamovi\u010d. \u201cMaryna, how many years do they give now for calling for sanctions?\u201d he asked her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d was among the 52 prisoners pardoned by Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka on September 11, 2025. All of those released were taken to Lithuania, except Statkievi\u010d, who refused to leave Belarus and remained at a 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 that he had been returned to prison to continue serving his original 14-year sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statkievi\u010d was released in February 2026 after suffering a stroke in prison. He is now recovering at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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