The Belarusian state press Belta reported On Monday, journalist and former opposition figure Roman Protasevych was pardoned by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko weeks after being sentenced to eight years in prison.
Protasevich was arrested in 2021 after Ryanair flight FR4978, carrying Protasevich and fellow activist Sofia Sapega, was forced to divert to Minsk after the president was allegedly told there were explosives on board the flight, an explanation that nations like Poland and Lithuania have refused.
Later, Protasevych was included in the Belarusian government’s list of terrorists and later convicted of crimes such as “making public appeals to seize power, committing acts of terrorism, slandering the president.” [and] spreading fraudulent information about Belarus”.
Belta quotes that of Protasevich answer disprove his previous views of the opposition:
I want to thank the president [Lukashenko] personally because that is your decision. This is a bold move, a decision by a strong-willed person. I want to thank the country and the people who believed in me, with my sincerity, who think that people can correct themselves and admit their mistakes… I don’t read what they write about me. I unsubscribed from every possible source of information a long time ago. I refer to the pro-Western opposition because they recycle things about me. I’m not interested in what happens there, what they say. I am focused on the positive agenda. I will devote maximum time to my family.
Protasevich was part of it Thena “Belarusian media project on social and political issues” that aims to “destroy the myths of state propaganda and use concrete examples to show the harsh reality of life in Belarus.” Nexta has been considered a terrorist organization by the Belarusian authorities. The exit won popularity after reporting on the 2020 protests against the president’s re-election Lukashenko.
Fellow activist Sofia Sapega who was arrested at the same time has not been pardoned.
