Dissident Belarusian journalist pulled off plane by Minsk gets 8 years in prison

Dissident Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich, who was arrested after being pulled off a commercial flight in 2021, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday (May 3). According to a report by the news agency Associated Press, Pratasevich ran Nexta, a Telegram messaging app channel that was widely used by participants in mass protests against the disputed 2020 election that gave Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. Pratasevich was charged with organising unrest and plotting to seize power.

Nexta is one of the most well-known opposition outlets in the country. Together with its sister channel, Nexta Live, it has 1.4 million followers.

In May 2021, Belarusian flight controllers ordered a Ryanair flight travelling from Greece to Lithuania to land in Belarus' capital city Minsk, telling the crew there was a bomb threat against the flight. Authorities found no explosives on board once the aircraft landed, but Pratasevich-a Belarusian citizen who lived in exile at the time-was arrested.

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His girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, who is a Russian, was also arrested. Following the two arrests, the aircraft was allowed to continue to its original destination. Western countries condemned Raman Pratasevich’s dramatic arrest and imposed a raft of sanctions and barred their aircraft from flying over Belarus.

Following his arrest, Pratasevich appeared on Belarusian television several times to confess, denounce the opposition and apologise to President Lukashenko. Critics said that the journalist's appearances were made under duress.

Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sapega were released from custody and put under house arrest. In May last year, Sapega was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison. A message on a Telegram channel billed as belonging to Pratasevich sought to distance him from his girlfriend — saying they had separated long before and that he was married to someone else.

However, it could not be verified whether the post was freely written by Pratasevich or any of the claims it, the Associated Press reported.

Sapega, meanwhile, petitioned Russian authorities to extradite her to Russia to serve out the remainder of her sentence. Belarus agreed but it was not yet clear when this would happen.

(With inputs from agencies)

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