Opposition blogger arrested after Belarus illegally Its Ryanair flight was tested in Minsk on Thursday; He has already confessed his crime.
Roman Protasevich was on a flight from Athens to Vilnius on May 23, 2021, when the Belarusian air traffic control lied to The Ryanair pilot said the plane encountered a terrorist threat and had to land in Minsk. Protasevich and his partner, Sofia Sapega, were taken off the plane and arrested.
State media were allowed to attend Thursday’s hearing, and they Has shown A neatly dressed Protasevich is being led into the courtroom. He was not placed in a cage, which is routine practice in recent trials of Belarusian opposition leaders and civic activists.
“Morally, I am ready to face any consequences. Nothing depends on me here anymore,” Protasevich Said Journalists in the courtroom. Protasevich too Said He “completely” agreed with all the charges. Earlier, he officially pleaded guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Protasevich, along with two other dissidents, has been charged in absentia with what prosecutors say are 1,586 crimes, including organizing large-scale riots, inciting social hatred and insulting the country’s president. Protasevich could face up to 15 years in prison.
Protasevich, 27, was the editor-in-chief of Nexta Live, one of the most popular channels on the Telegram social network that opposes Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
In 2020, Belarus was rocked by unprecedented street protests following a fake presidential election, which Lukashenko claimed to have won. Nexta Live not only covered the demonstrations but also actively coordinated them.
Last year, a court in Belarus declared the channel a terrorist organisation.
Since his arrest, Protasevich has appeared on television talk shows and even participated in a media briefing, during which he criticized opposition leaders and his former media colleagues. He claims to have done this voluntarily – although this cannot be verified.
His performance has been criticized by the opposition.
“In public opinion, I’ll never be a ‘good guy’ again. You know what? It’s simple? Because they didn’t put me away for 20 years together. If I had gone to jail immediately and for a long time “If I told the officers to go to hell, things would be different. That would make me a hero.” wrote in response to his social media account last May.
Last yearSapega, a Russian national, was sentenced by a court in Belarus to six years in prison for inciting social hatred. “I feel sorry for Sofia and her family. No one should be a victim of a dictatorship,” opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanskaya wrote on Twitter at the time.