Belarusian blogger Roman Protasevich, arrested in 2021 after Ryanair flight diversion, pardoned
Roman Protasevich
Roman Protasevich, the Belarusian opposition blogger arrested in 2021, was pardoned on Monday, state news agency BelTA reported. Protasevich was interrogated after a forced diversion of a Ryanair flight in order to arrest a dissident on board.
BelTA quoted Protasevich as telling reporters: "I have literally just signed all the relevant documents stating that I have been pardoned."
He added, "This is, of course, great news."
Protasevich is a former editor of the opposition media group Nexta and was accused of helping to coordinate mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election in 2020.
He was detained in May 2021 after his flight from Greece to Lithuania was stopped and forced to land in Minsk by a Belarusian fighter plane.
A Belarusian court sentenced the 28-year-old to eight years in prison earlier this month. Following the trial, he was placed under house arrest.
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However, the Belarusian state news agency Belta reported on Monday that Protasevich had been pardoned.
After the report, opposition figures Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said: "He's been the regime's hostage since the Ryanair hijacking."
"The Belarus regime again shows its disregard for justice by sentencing three journalists in a fake trial on PressFreedomDay," she said on Twitter.
The circumstances surrounding Protasevich's arrest in May 2021 sparked international anger and forced the European Union to penalise Lukashenko.
After his arrest, it appeared that he was forced by authorities into issuing apologetic statements on state television as he was seen crying and confessing to his involvement in anti-government protests. He had also agreed to conspire to depose Lukashenko.
Several Western nations condemned the act. Germany had criticised the recent court's decision to jail Protasevich. The German foreign ministry said on Twitter that his sentence was "another example of the ruthless moves by those in power in Belarus against democratic forces and independent media".
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