Members of civic initiative “Freedom for Mikalai Statkevich and other political prisoners” are founding citizen’s action groups to put forward candidatures of Mikalai Statkevich and Ales Mikhalevich. Necessary documents have been filed to most election commissions of Belarus.
“Рut back those who WE elect”
“By means of the election campaign we want to draw public attention to the fact that [former – Belsat] presidential candidate is serving his time in jail while another candidate, Ales Mikhalevich, is in exile. All other participants of the presidential elections – democratic presidential candidates – are fenced in anyhow,” Maryna Adamovich, statkevich’s wife, said.
According to her, “Freedom for Mikalai Statkevich and other political prisoners” reminds that the 2010 presiadential elections did not take place, their results being rigged. Thus, there is no legal power in the country and the parliamentary elections are illegal as well, Maryna Adamovich states.
“Our aim is to put choice back to people, to put back those who WE elect,” the activists posted to web sites.
Awakening of responsibility
The activists would like to remind some tried-and-true members of election commission of the fact that it is them who take responsibility for all that has happened in Belarus because election fraud is their doing, Statkevich’s wife declared.
She hopes that initiative groups will be registered in some regions and they will succeed in conveying a message on political prisoners to people.
What happened to them?
Ex-presidential candidate, leader of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party (Hramada), Mikalai Statkevich was adjudged guilty of mass riot organization on December, 19, 2010. On May 26, 2012 the court sentenced him to six-year imprisonment in a maximum security penal colony.
On December 20, 2010 Ales Mikhalevich, a presidential candidate, was arrested by KGB agents. He was charged for organizing of mass riots. According to the politician, KGB officials wanted him to go on television and make a denunciation of other presidential candidates. On February 19, 2011 Mikhalevich was released from prison and made a statement in which he claimed that he and other political prisoners had been subjected to tortures. Soon after that Mikhalevich secretly escaped the country. On 24 March 2011 he was granted a political asylum in Czech Republic.
Belsat
