Author: Veranika Zmagar

• He jumped from the bus and walked back. Mikalai Statkevich stayed homeSeptember 28, 2026
  Mikalai Statkevich is a Belarusian opposition figure, a former officer and a former presidential candidate. He is described as the political prisoner who has spent more time behind bars than anyone else in the country. He became widely known after September 2025: they took him to the border, and he refused to leave. Who he… Read more: He jumped from the bus and walked back. Mikalai Statkevich stayed home
• He went home for a passport. Arkadz Kaichurenka was given five yearsJuly 16, 2026
  He went home for a passport. An ordinary errand turned into five years in a penal colony and a car sold under the hammer. Arkadz Andreevich Kaichurenka was born on 24 March 1974 in Hrodna. He lived abroad and came back to renew his passport: since September 2023 that can only be done in person… Read more: He went home for a passport. Arkadz Kaichurenka was given five years
• He believed the security services and came back from Poland. Aliaksandr Kulikou was given six yearsMarch 22, 2024
  They promised Mahiliou resident Aliaksandr Kulikou: come back, and the punishment will not involve imprisonment. He came back. Contact broke off at the border. The Leninski district court gave him three years in a colony. By March 2024 the outcome was different: six years. Aliaksandr Uladzimiravich Kulikou was born on 16 March 1970. From 2002… Read more: He believed the security services and came back from Poland. Aliaksandr Kulikou was given six years
• He Came Home for New Year’s and Got Five Years in a Penal Colony: The Story of Blogger Oleg KonovalovSeptember 29, 2023
  Oleg Konovalov travelled from Kyiv to his home country of Belarus for the New Year holidays. He never made it back: he was detained on January 10, 2022, and eight months later he was sentenced to five years in a penal colony. Who he is Oleg Anatolyevich Konovalov, a native of Gomel, ran the YouTube… Read more: He Came Home for New Year’s and Got Five Years in a Penal Colony: The Story of Blogger Oleg Konovalov