69-year-old Statkevich has been taken back to the colony where he was previously imprisoned, Naša Niva reported, citing informed sources.

Statkevich, who ran for president in 2010, challenging dictator Alexander Lukashenko, was sentenced to 14 years in prison after protests against the rigging of the 2020 presidential election.

He was among 52 political prisoners released from the prisons of Lukashenko's totalitarian regime last Thursday, but unlike the others, he refused to leave Belarus. The other released political prisoners were handed over to Lithuania.

The release of the prisoners followed talks between Belarus and the US delegation. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda revealed that US President Donald Trump was directly involved in the talks on the release of political prisoners.

On the day of the liberation, Statkevich spent several hours in the neutral zone of the Belarusian-Lithuanian border and refused to leave Belarus. In the evening, Statkevich was approached by unidentified men from the Belarusian side and taken away. He could be seen on video surveillance cameras installed at the border, the online media outlet"Meduza" reported.