Maryna Adamovich: Statkevich not to betray his beliefs and people who believe in him

Political prisoner thanks Belarusians for their solidarity and support.

His wife Maryna Adamovich, who was present at the trial on May 4 in the Shklou colony, informed Belsat.

"From the very beginning we had no illusions. It was clear they would not leave him alone", she stressed.

Maryna Adamovich said he husband had been confident and quiet at the trial. "Mikalai asked me to say that any reason could neither make him betray his beliefs, nor people who believed in him. He is really grateful for support", she added.

His wife also stressed that the court decision said the session had been open. But in fact, a representative of the European Union, civil rights activists, political prisoner's companions were denied to be present at the court trial.

On May 4 it was decided to transfer the opposition politician and former presidential candidate from Shklou colony No. 17 to prison until the end of the sentence (1 year, 7 months, 15 days). Mikalai Statkevich is accused of violation of internal regulations and disobedience to the colony administration. Maryna Adamovich says he has more than a dozen penalties; most of them are for refusal to clean up the territory. All prisoners should do it not more than two hours a day. But those rules, regarding the political prisoner, had not been implemented. And he considered it a legitimized humiliation. On March 24 the politician wrote an application for refusal to work. After that the pressure on him was intensified.

Mikalai Statkevich is the only candidate for the Presidency in 2010 who is still imprisoned. In May 2011, he was sentenced to six years in prison for organizing mass disorder on the day of presidential elections. The international human rights organizations recognized Statkevich as a political prisoner.

The opposition politician initially served his term in Shklou colony No. 17, but in January 2012, conditions of the completion of sentence were tightened and he was sent to Mahileu prison No. 4 for three years. After the expiration of the term on January 12 of the current year, Statkevich was back to the Shklou colony and where he was drawn up 2 protocols within first two days on violation of internal regulations.