Mikola Statkevich

Mikola was born on August 12, 1956, in the village of Liadna, Slutsk District, in the family of teachers. He graduated from the local secondary school and then from Minsk Military Engineering College with a diploma of “military engineer in radiotechnology” (in 1978). From 1978 to 1982 he served in Murmansk region as a senior military engineer. In 1986 Mikola defended his Master’s thesis, in 1993 – a PhD. He has over 60 published works in ergonomics, industrial psychology, and social psychology. Mikola holds a military rank of lieutenant colonel.
 
From 1985 throughout 1990s Mikola taught in his alma mater, Military Engineering College. In 1990s he was one of the masterminds behind the conception of the newly formed Belarusian army. In 1991 Mikola renounced his membership in the Communist Party in protest against the Soviet crackdown on nationalist movement in Vilnius, Lithuania. On August 20, 1991, he was the only military official that openly condemned the coup in Moscow. At this time Mikola created the Balarusian Coalition of the Military Personnel and was its head until 1995. In 1991 Mikola became a member of the Central Council and Executive Committee of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party (Narodnaya Hramada). In 1992 Mikola initiated the procedure of pledging oath to the independence of Belarus among the military personnel, and organized a ceremonial pledge for several thousand officers in Minsk. Since 1995 Mikola is a chair of Belarusian Social-Democratic Party, and since 1999 he is a chair of the Eastern European Social-Democratic Forum. In 2000 Mikola campaigned for a seat in the House of Representatives but was not elected. Since 2003 he is the leader of the European Coalition.
 
In 2005 Mikola was sentenced to three years of “limited freedom” for organizing a protest in Minsk against the official results of the parliamentary election in October 2004. He is awarded a medal for “Exemplary Service” from the Republic of Belarus. He is a Doctor of Science and a lieutenant colonel in reserve. He raised two daughters. In 2009 Congress of the European Coalition selected him as a candidate to run for president in 2010. On December 19, 2010 Mikola participated in the protests on October and Independence Squares in Minsk. After the brutal crackdown on the protesters Mikola was detained by the police as his taxi was exiting the square. Currently he is held in the KGB Detention Centre, where he was on a hunger protest strike. He is facing charges of fifteen years in prison for organization of the “mass disturbances.” He is one of the prisoners whom Amnesty International declared a prisoner of conscience.