Image source,Reuters
Roman Protasevich boarded a passenger plane last month that was forced to diverge and land in Minsk, Belarus. He was arrested before the plane was allowed to take off again.
Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich boarded a passenger plane last month that was forced to diverge and land in Minsk, Belarus. He was arrested before the plane was allowed to take off again.
On Thursday (June 3), the State Television of Belarus aired a TV interview with him crying and confessing guilt.
In this interview, Protasevich admitted to organizing anti-government protests and praised Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Protasevich’s family said that the interview was conducted under duress.
Traces of handcuffs can be seen on his wrist. Human rights and opposition figures said he was tortured.
Protasevich is 26 years old and a former editor of Belarusian media Nexta. Nexta is a media organization that owns a Telegram channel. Protasevich left Belarus in 2019. He reported on the Belarusian election in 2020 and was later charged with terrorism and incitement to riots.
Last year, he was included in the list of “persons involved in terrorist activities” by Belarus.
After the country’s longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed to have won the presidential election on August 9, 2020, large-scale demonstrations broke out across Belarus. The election was condemned by all walks of life as election manipulation, and then the government began to suppress the demonstrations.
At present, anti-government demonstrations have been contained, and many opposition leaders have been arrested and imprisoned or exiled overseas.
Image source,EPA
In the interview, Protasevich admitted to organizing anti-government protests and praised President Alexander Lukashenko. Protasevich’s family said that the interview was conducted under duress.
What did the interview say?
In an interview aired on Thursday night, Protasevich admitted to trying to overthrow Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and said that he was voluntarily interviewed by the TV station.
He said that he had criticized Lukashenko many times, but “begin to understand that he is doing the right thing, of course I respect him.”
At the end of the interview, he burst into tears, expressing his hope that one day he could get married and have children.
The reporter’s father told AFP that he was very painful watching the interview.
“I know my son very well, and I believe he will never say such things. They destroyed him and forced him to say what he needed.”
Thursday’s interview was the third time that Protasevich appeared on state television since his detention.
In an interview, he said it was useless for the opposition to call for further street protests.
Image source,I have via EPA
Western countries accused Belarus of “hijacking” the Ryanair plane.
How was he arrested?
The reporter and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were flying back to their place of residence, Lithuania, when their plane landed in Minsk due to a false bomb threat.
He faces serious charges. Allegations of causing large-scale riots are punishable by up to 15 years in prison. But the sentence for terrorist crimes was even higher. When he was taken off the plane, a passenger quoted what he said at the time, “I will be sentenced to death here.”
The two were taken by the police from the passenger plane and later appeared in the film, in which they appeared to be forced to confess to the “crimes” committed against the Belarusian authorities.
The two arrests prompted the European Union to agree to impose sanctions on Belarus last month, including banning the country’s airlines from using EU airspace and airports. Officials involved in the diversion of flights were also sanctioned.
“We will never tolerate anyone trying to play Russian roulette with the lives of innocent people,” said European Council President Charles Michel.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, described the incident as an “attack on democracy.”