Belarusian opposition figure Mikola Statkevich reportedly returned to the same prison he was released from last week

Veteran dissident, political prisoner, and one-time Belarusian presidential candidate Mikola Statkevich was released from prison on Sept. 11 as part of a deal struck between Minsk and Washington. However, after refusing to cross the border into the European Union, Statkevich was returned to a Belarusian penal colony in the town of Hlybokaye, the independent outlet Nasha Niva, citing a “reliable source” with knowledge of the matter, reports.

On Sept. 11, the 69-year-old Statkevich was taken from the colony by bus for deportation to the Lithuanian border. In the “neutral zone” — the “no man’s land” between the state borders of the two countries — he is said to have broken through the bus door and walked out, declaring he had no intention of leaving Belarus. A man resembling the dissident was subsequently photographed in the area between the passport control kiosks of the two countries.

However, Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe noted that Nasha Niva’s report had not been independently verified. Belarusian state propagandists have claimed Statkevich is in Lithuania, while Lithuania’s Border Guard Service and Foreign Affairs Ministry have denied such claims, maintaining that Statkevich is now in Belarus.

In an interview with the dissident’s wife, Maryna Adamovich, Novaya Gazeta Europe was able to confirm that she had filed a missing person report with the Belarusian police this past Sunday. By that time, three days had passed since Statkevich last called her from the border, saying that he and other political prisoners were being taken to Lithuania but that he would not leave and would return to Belarus. He has not been seen since.

“Nikolai was able to call me, from someone else’s phone, on someone else’s line. It was incredible — the same voice, the same confidence, the same love,” Adamovich said.

“He told me: ‘They are trying to take us out, but I will not allow it. I am returning to Belarus.’”

“Unfortunately, we were only able to speak very briefly. According to those who were on the bus, two KGB officers were standing next to him — positioned carefully so they would not appear on surveillance cameras. They’re not visible,” she added.

Statkevich was arrested in May 2020, three months before the country’s presidential election saw a massive wave of protest calling on incumbent Alexander Lukashenko to accept defeat and resign. Lukashenko’s forces succeeded in repressing the movement, and in December 2021 Statkevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of “organizing mass unrest.” For the past two and a half years, he had been held in complete isolation in Hlybokaye, with no information available to the outside world about his condition.

A former military officer and leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Narodnaya Hramada), Statkevich ran in the 2010 presidential election and was sentenced to six years in prison for taking part in an election day protest. He was released in 2015 and resumed his political activities.

The release of 52 political prisoners, including Statkevich, was part of an agreement recently struck between the governments of Belarus and the United States. Following talks between Alexander Lukashenko and U.S. envoy John Coale, Washington lifted sanctions on Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia. Lukashenko thanked Donald Trump for his “peacekeeping efforts” and said he was ready for a “big deal” with the United States.