Political prisoner Statkevich may be pardoned without pleading guilty
He only needs to plea for mercy, Alyaksandr Lukashenka told Belarusian mass media.
Head of the information agency BelaPAN Ales Lipai asked him about the possibility of amnestying political prisoners. He reminded that ex-presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich was imprisoned for 6 years for the Dec.19 case and had already spent half of the term in prison.
A convict must plea for mercy, Lukashenka replied. “You don’t need to plead guilty,” the state leader added.
"Statkevich is not a political rival for me,” Lukashenka stressed. “Statkevich is a political corpse for Belarusians. He conducted the policy in the President’s favour during the last election campaign. He has never been my rival or a politician and he will never be one. Statkevich is not worth being an obstacle to our relations with the European Union.”
Her husband will not plea for mercy anyway, Statkevich’s wife Maryna Adamovich told BelaPAN.
Photo: Reuters
