Statkevich’s Passport “Found”

Mikalai Statkevich said on his Telegram channel that his passport had been “found.” It was discovered at Minsk detention center No. 1. The politician is banned from leaving Belarus.

“At last, it was possible to find my passport. For some reason, it turned up in Minsk — in Detention Center No. 1. Along with the passport, my prison belongings were also found, including the ‘court’ sentence and the decision of the ‘appeal instance.’ Interesting documents for future researchers or investigators. There is also a ‘court’ ruling banning me from leaving the country and — horror of horrors! — visiting casinos”, Statkevich said.

Mikalai Statkevich was sentenced in 2021 in the “Tsikhanouski case” to 14 years in prison.

In September 2025, he was among 52 political prisoners who were to be taken to Lithuania.

However, he got off the bus and refused to leave Belarus. Statkevich spent several hours between two border checkpoints. He was eventually taken away from the border by masked men. For a long time, his whereabouts were unknown. Later, reports emerged that he was being held in prison in Hlybokaye. Lukashenka publicly confirmed that Statkevich had been returned to prison. He was released again on February 19.

A month before that, the political prisoner had suffered a stroke and had impaired speech. Statkevich was released without documents.