In just under three months, the presidential elections in Belarus and Statkevich have tried to stand as a candidate against long-time President Alexandr Lukashenko, whose authoritarian regime controls the country.

Leads Social Democratic Party

Statkevich leads the country's Social Democratic Party and ran in the 2010 presidential election, but lost to the incumbent Lukashenko. Afterwards, large demonstrations erupted against the election result and over 600 opposition supporters were arrested, including Statkevich.

Sentenced for riots

He was sentenced in May 2011 to six years in prison for organizing riots, but was released in 2015 by Lukashenko with the condition that the sentence would remain for another eight years.

Statkevich has since staged protests on a few occasions and has had its sights set on the presidential election on August 9. However, his application to stand as a candidate has been rejected, citing the verdict against him.