Николай Козлов. Фото: Офис Тихановской.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has submitted a proposal to the Coordination Council to nominate Mikalai Kazlou for the position of Representative of the United Transitional Cabinet for the Restoration of Law and Order.
According to the head of the United Transitional Cabinet, he is currently involved in drafting new legislation related to reform of the law enforcement system and security agencies.
“I believe that his extensive professional experience in law enforcement and socio-political work, his authority among профильные organizations, as well as his personal qualities will allow him to effectively perform the duties of this position,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote in her letter.
It is noted that he “possesses extensive professional and political experience, worked for 17 years as a senior operative on especially important cases in the criminal investigation department of the Central District Police Directorate in Minsk, solved hundreds of criminal cases, and held the special rank of police lieutenant colonel.”
In 2009, Kazlou resigned from the internal affairs bodies in protest against falsifications in the parliamentary elections. In subsequent years, he engaged in socio-political activities and was repeatedly subjected to administrative and criminal prosecution in politically motivated cases.
In 2021, he was stripped of his special rank, and in 2022 he was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and recognized as a political prisoner. After fully serving his sentence, Kazlou left Belarus due to the threat of new criminal prosecution.
Kazlou has been a member of the United Civic Party since 2012 and served as its chair from 2018.
In 2010, he was named Person of the Year by Nasha Niva, and in 2023 he received the Bush–Thatcher “For Freedom” Award together with Ryhor Kastusiou.
Mikalai Kazlou was born on January 5, 1967, in Valozhyn and grew up in Nyasvizh. He graduated from the Novosibirsk Higher Combined Arms Military School, served in Transcaucasia and Central Asia, and took part in a peacekeeping mission during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. After the collapse of the USSR, he returned to Belarus and joined the criminal investigation service.