Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Today, Mikalai Statkevich turns 69. The organizer of some of the first mass protest actions against the regime’s arbitrariness in the 1990s, leader of the Free Belarus European Coalition, outspoken exposer of election fraud, and a fighter for democracy, this man has dedicated his life to Belarus and its people.
So how did the regime ‘reward’ him for his intention to participate in the country’s political life? Repeated arrests, unjust imprisonments, and incommunicado detention. For 915 days now, the family of this political figure has received no news from him. During these years without contact, Mikalai’s father passed away. It is unknown whether he even knows about it…
For people like Mikalai, life in Belarus is extremely hard. Their acute sense of justice, determination, honesty, and solidarity are not valued in a country where the regime expects only silent obedience from its citizens. But it is precisely thanks to people with such qualities that Belarus lives and holds hope for a free future. His work did not go unnoticed. It inspired entire generations of Belarusians who continue to follow in his footsteps. We have no right to forget such exceptional people. As long as they remain behind bars, we must continue our work so that Mikalai and all political prisoners can return home”.
