UCP nominates Mikola Statkevich as presidential candidate

The party has started to form an initiative group for nomination of the political prisoner as a presidential candidate in the presidential vote in 2015.

It was stated at a press conference in Minsk on January 6 by the leader of the United Civil Party Anatol Lyabedzka, BelaPAN informs.

As said by Lyabedzka, the initiative group includes him, Stanislau Bahdankevich, Leu Marholin, Antanina Kavalyova, Viktar Karnyayenka, Yury Khashchavatski, Hary Pahanyajla, Zinaida Bandarenka and others. “The initiative group includes several dozens of VIPs, are trying to attract attention to the problem of political prisoners in Belarus who by their example,” Lyabedzka said.

The politician noted that probably “a group of solidarity with the political prisoner is to be created, as most likely it wouldn’t come to collection of signatures in support of the nomination.” “But we hope that creation of the initiative group and its actions are going to speed up the release of Mikalai Statkevich,” he said.

It should be noted that Lyabedzka himself plans to become a presidential candidate in the election in 2015.

Statkevich is the only presidential candidate in Belarus in the election of 2010 who is still kept behind the bars. In May 2011 the court of Leninski district of Minsk sentenced him to 6 years of imprisonment on charges related to organizing mass riots on the day of the presidential election on December 19, 2010. Now the politician is serving the term in Mahilyou prison #4. Many times he was offered to write a petition for pardon addressed to Alyaksandr Lukashenka, however Statkevich flatly refused to do so.