Former Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, arrested two years ago after the spectacular interception of an airliner in Belarus and sentenced in early May to eight years in prison, has been pardoned, the official Salta news agency reported on Monday (May 22nd).
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I have just signed the appropriate documents certifying that I have been pardoned," Roman Protassevitch, 28, a former editor-in-chief of the opposition media Nexta who played a key role in challenging the government in 2020, told Belta.
"I am very grateful"
He was arrested on 23 May 2021, after a Belarusian fighter jet diverted the Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, sparking an international outcry. "I am very grateful to the country and, of course, to the president personally for this decision," he added in a video released by Belta. His girlfriend at the time of his arrest, Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen, had been sentenced to six years in prison. Negotiations are underway between Minsk and Moscow to transfer her to Russia to serve her sentence.
The opposition media Nexta played a key role in mobilizing the protest movement against the re-election, deemed fraudulent, in August 2020 of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994 and ally of Moscow. In particular, he had relayed calls for demonstrations and broadcast images of the mobilization and police repressions. This had earned Nexta to be banned and classified as a "terrorist organization" by the Belarusian justice.
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After his arrest, Roman Protasevich agreed to cooperate with the investigation and said he repented, in videos broadcast by Belarusian public television, recorded "under duress" according to the opposition. Accused of public calls to "take power", to commit "terrorist acts" and insulting the head of state, Roman Protassevich was placed under house arrest until his trial and then sentenced earlier this month to eight years in prison.
Two other of his colleagues in exile abroad, Stepan Poutilo and Yan Roudzik, were sentenced in absentia to 20 and 19 years' imprisonment respectively, in this emblematic case of repression in Belarus.