Alexander Lukashenko, at a meeting with journalists, commented for the first time on the return of Nikolai Statkevich, who was released in early September but refused to leave the country.
"The man [Statkevich] is already at the end. He will soon die, God forbid, in prison. Why is this necessary? He seemed to have entered a neutral zone or somewhere and crossed over to the Lithuanians. The guys asked: 'Do you want to go to Belarus? You will go to prison.' He said: 'I will go to prison.' Okay, they took him. You can't just leave him. After all, he is our man. Citizen, rather, ours. They took him to Belarus. Why offend? Well, if he wants to be a leader in burning cars and police houses, then let him stay there [in Lithuania]," said Lukashenko.
Statkevich's whereabouts are not disclosed. On Monday, the publication "Nasha Niva" reported, citing a "reliable source," that Statkevich was returned to a colony in the city of Glubokoye in the Vitebsk region.
Nikolai Statkevich was convicted by Alexander Lukashenko's regime three times and spent more than 10 years in detention. On September 11, he was among 52 released prisoners, following negotiations between Lukashenko and the USA and the lifting of sanctions from "Belavia." Prior to this, there had been no news about the 69-year-old Nikolai Statkevich for two and a half years.