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In the context of the agreement with the mediation of the United States, which received some fines against the National Airlines of Belavia in Belavia, Minsk freed 52 dissident prisoners last Thursday.
Among them were 14 foreign citizens from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, France and Great Britain. But Mikolai Stakevich, a prominent form of the opposition, which was in the list of released prisoners, is ignored.
The released Belarusians, including politicians, journalists and independent trade union activists, were organized in shelters in the capital of Lithuania after their arrival. Many relatives remain, they said to Euronews Whits who were expelled to Lithuania.
They confirm that the 69 -year -old Mikolai Stakevich got out of the bus with the neutral zone released during the crossing of the Belarus -Techniy, refusing to be forced to expel from his homeland.
Plans from the security camera issued by the Nasha Niva Belarusian opposition newspaper show it in prison form, sitting in a neutral zone.
A few hours later, he returned to the territory of Belarus, accompanied by several Belarusian soldiers, it did not seem that he was arrested, according to the Lithuanian border guard.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania also confirmed that Staktevich decided to stay in Belarus.
“I can confirm that there is a person who wanted to stay. He is currently located on the territory of Belarus, he is not in Lithuania, ”confirmed the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kestutis Badris.
Denis Kuchinski, adviser to the leader of the Belarusian opposition, Svutlan Zihanukeiy, also confirmed to the independent Russian agency that this person was indeed a stakevik.
The wife of the 69 -year politician, Marina, refused to comment on the incident, but said in the sources that spoke with Euronews that her husband had not returned home, and there was no information about where it was.
Shtakevich, former president, Social, Democratic Party of Belarus People’s Gramad, said in 2010 the president against the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.
He was repeatedly detained and released in the coming years before he was charged with the “Organization of Massion Riots” and was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2021.
The leading figure of Statkevic “can play a decisive role in the future,” the Belarusian activist, who lives in Vilneus, told Euronews.
Euronews talked with the dissident and his wife in their house in Minsk in 2018, just a few days before his arrest. At that time, Staktevich was in prison for a total of 8 years, but was determined to continue his political struggle against the Lukashenko regime.
“We are not a free country. People do not affect power. There are still races from political prisoners. This country is drowning people, it’s hard to breathe here. Fear here constantly dominates, ”he said then to Euronews.
“If no one talks about freedom in the country, if no one is fighting for it, then people forget that freedom exists. Society decomposes, and the country becomes easy for some kind of external power. Now Lukashenko is supported by Putin, and Putin is much more popular among him. Putin “.
The press conference with the issued detainees gave Friday Vilnius of the exiled Belarusian leader of the opposition Sviatlan Tsihanukeiya. Among them was the former Secretary General of the Party of People’s Gramad, Sergei Spareish, who said that he met Stachevich for some time before they were released in the KGB prison, as was still called in Belarus in which they were held.
He emphasized that Stakevich had a morale, despite the fact that he spent 2 years and 7 months in isolation and was in poor health.
“There can be no nation in which there is no leader on the basis of this country. Nelson Mandela could not be the leader of the (southern) African people when he is somewhere in exile. Therefore, Nikolai Stakevich remained in Belarus, ”he said.
For her part, the Svialana cigarette turned to the US government to clarify the situation of Stakevich. “We are glad to see people free. But let’s be honest – what happened yesterday was not real freedom, it was forced to supplant, ”he said at the beginning of the press conference.
“We are very concerned about the fate of Mikolai Stakevich, who refused to leave Belarus – something, which was his right – and now his fate is unknown.” He added that “everyone who is released must have the right to choose or leave.”
At the time of writing these lines, many other political activists and human rights activists are still in Belarusian prisons.
“President Trump set a goal: and 1300 should be released. We will continue to work with the US government and our allies in Europe to ensure the continuation of liberation, ”concluded the leader of the Belarusian opposition.