Amnesty International Calls The Situation With Statkevich "enforced Disappearance"

• 16.09.2025, 13:00

Human rights activists are demanding his release.

Political prisoner released from the colony, leader of the Belarusian opposition Nikolai Statkevich has forcibly disappeared after refusing to be expelled from the country, his fate is of concern to the international human rights organization Amnesty International, reports Radye Svaboda.

Reacting to the refusal of the Belarusian authorities to disclose the fate and whereabouts of opposition politician Nikolai Statkevich, who was recently released from prison and decided to stay in Belarus, Maria Gurieva, a senior staff member of Amnesty International, said:

- The constant lack of information about the fate and whereabouts of Nikolai Statkevich causes deep concern. He has not been seen since he was taken to the border with Lithuania, where he refused expulsion after his release from prison. This has raised fears that the Belarusian authorities have returned him to prison. There is a clear and simple term for this: enforced disappearance.

Nikalai Statkevich's whereabouts should be immediately disclosed, his safety guaranteed, and his further detention terminated. He should never have been imprisoned, nor deprived of the right to remain in his country.

The Belarusian authorities must stop using people imprisoned on political grounds as a bargaining chip in the international arena. They should immediately and unconditionally release all those imprisoned for trying to realize their human rights. And they should not force anyone to be expelled," reads the statement of Amnesty International, obtained by "Radio Svaboda."

We will remind, September 11, the leader of the Belarusian opposition, political prisoner Nikolai Statkevich refused to leave Belarus during the forced deportation to Lithuania. At the border, he broke down the doors of the bus, carrying prisoners, and ran out into the territory of Belarus.

The editor-in-chief of the website Charter97.org, Natalia Radina reported that his life was in danger.