Statkevich Describes What Happened at the Border Crossing

Former political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich has described what happened at the Kamenny Loh–Medininkai border crossing after he refused to leave Belarus, in an interview with Zeit.

According to Statkevich, he had been held in a solitary confinement cell at the penal colony in Hlybokaye. A bag was placed over his head and he was taken to the KGB pre-trial detention centre in Minsk. At that point, he realised that the authorities intended to remove him from the country.

“I know that border crossing very well; we crossed it many times. My wife enjoys visiting the flea market in Vilnius. When we left Belarusian territory, the KGB officers got off the bus. That left only the driver and us, the prisoners. When we stopped at the barrier, I stood up and tried to kick the bus door open. My greatest fear was that I would not have enough strength because of my heart problems. But I managed it. As I was trying to break the window, another prisoner shouted: ‘You have to open the door with that button!’ I did—and jumped out,” the politician said.

Statkevich then spent several hours between the two border checkpoints while remaining on Belarusian territory. During that time, officials tried to persuade him to leave the country.

“Then I started walking back towards Belarus. At one point, an American diplomat and a KGB officer approached me. The diplomat tried to persuade me to leave. I said: ‘All you care about is good publicity, and I am supposed to give up my homeland for that? I certainly won’t do it!’” Statkevich said.

According to him, his intention was not to derail an agreement between the United States and Aliaksandr Lukashenka.

“No. It was a personal decision. I’m not some animal that can simply be traded!” he added.

He also spoke with his wife while at the border.

“I was allowed a brief phone call with my wife so that she could try to persuade me to leave the country. ‘I will not allow them to deport me by force,’ I told her. She said she had known I would act that way. But could we at least hug each other? I didn’t know how to answer. Then, through tears, she said: ‘At least our letters will get through.’ I knew everything would remain the same. But for the first time in three years, I heard her voice and learned that she had survived cancer,” the politician continued.

In the end, Mikalai Statkevich was returned to the penal colony.

“I knew there would be retaliation. After all, I had ruined the media coverage of the deal between Lukashenka and Trump. The KGB officers were furious as well. I think they themselves would like to travel to the West, which is forbidden to them as members of the security apparatus. They pulled a thick balaclava over my face, and I nearly suffocated,” he said.

“I resisted my forced expulsion. No matter how cruel the circumstances, a person always has a choice. And at the very least, what I did later resulted in political prisoners no longer being forcibly expelled from the country after their release, even if that means they remain under strict surveillance inside Belarus,” Mikalai Statkevich said.

According to him, after being returned to the colony he no longer expected to leave it alive.

“I was convinced I would not leave that place alive. Back in the penal colony, I was no longer given the medication I desperately needed after contracting COVID-19 and because of my heart rhythm problems—medicine my wife had been sending me. Those parcels were the only way I knew my wife was still alive. Instead, I was given aspirin. Doctors at the prison hospital later told me that this was what led to my stroke,” he said.

After suffering a stroke, Mikalai Statkevich was released in February. He remains in Belarus and says he does not intend to leave. However, according to him, his legal status remains unclear.