Since mid-February, there has been no news of the political prisoner and Belarusian social democrat Mikalai Statkevich to his relatives. Libereco is very concerned about this.

We call on the Belarusian regime and prison authorities:

    • Mikalai Statkevich must be allowed contact with his family immediately. any incommunicado detention must be ended immediately
    • all repressive punishments must be stopped
    • If necessary, he must be given medical treatment
    • Mikalai Statkevich and all other political prisoners in Belarus are to be released immediately

Libereco is launching a letter-writing campaign to show the Belarusian authorities that they are being closely watched internationally.

Mikalai Statkevich

No news for 70 days

For more than 70 days, no news on Mikalai Statkevich have left the penal colony. Even his family cannot get in touch with him. The reason for this is probably prolonged “solitary confinement”, a repressive measure by the prison authorities.

The social democrat Mikalai Statkevich has been imprisoned in Belarus since 31 May 2020, having already been in prison several times since 2005 for his democratic activism. In 2021, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for “organising riots”. Since then he has been in a penal colony, where he is constantly subjected to new repressions: In the last 9 months alone, Statkevich has undergone at least 21 penalties by prison authorities.

 

What you can do: Letter campaign #FreeMikalai

For 1 May, the international day of the labour movement, Libereco is launching a letter campaign. This is to show that we stand firmly by Statkevich’s side and are closely observing how the Belarusian authorities treat him. Write a letter to Mikalai and show the prison authorities that many people are on Statkevich’s side and thinking of him!

 

How to write a letter?

    • Use the following spelling of the address in Cyrillic script:

Мікалай Статкевіч
ПК № 13
вул. Савецкая, 205
211793 г. Глыбокае
REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

    • Be sure to write the letter in Russian or Belarusian: You can write the letter in your language and then translate it into Russian or Belarusian via deepl.com or Google Translate. Letters in other languages are generally not delivered by the Belarusian prison authorities.
    • Send the letter by post to Mikalai and as a PDF to Libereco. Unfortunately, it is likely that the letter will be intercepted by the prison authorities. Therefore, we would appreciate a scan of your letter (to belarus@libereco.org). We send all letters to Mikalai Statkevich’s family, who can then tell him about it on a future visit.
    • You can also take a picture of your postcard or letter to Mikalai Statkevich and share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: Use the hashtags #WeStandBYyou and #FreeMikalai and tag @LiberecoPHR.
    • You don’t find the right words? Then feel free to use the template below.

Template

In English:

Dear Mikalai Statkevich

I am writing to you to encourage you. People all over the world know about your situation and are worried about you. I wish you much strength in these difficult times and hope that better times will come soon. Until then, please know that my thoughts are with you. I hope that you are healthy and that we will hear from you soon.

All the best,
[your name]


In Belarusian:

Шаноўны Мікола Статкевіч!

Я пішу вам, каб патрымаць вас. Людзі ва ўсім свеце ведаюць пра вашу сітуацыю і хвалююцца за вас. Я жадаю вам шмат сіл у гэтыя цяжкія часы і спадзяюся, што лепшыя часы надыйдуць хутка. А пакуль, калі ласка, ведайце, што мае думкі з вамі. Я спадзяюся, што вы здаровыя і што мы хутка пачуем вас.

Усяго найлепшага,
[your name]