Former editor-in-chief of Nexta Protasevich hardened accusations
The former editor-in-chief of the opposition Telegram Nexta channel, Roman Protasevich, was aggravated in Belarus. This was announced on Thursday, April 13, by state prosecutor Natalya Sokolova at a hearing at the Minsk Regional Court.
Now, in particular, in addition to “organizing mass riots”, “a conspiracy to seize power and incite hatred”, the oppositionist is also accused of “repeated leadership of an extremist formation”.
Postponed until April 19
According to the investigation, Roman Protasevich was Nexta’s editor-in-chief from May to September 2020. In October 2020, Protasevich moved from Warsaw to Vilnius and until May 2021 was responsible for the operation of the Belarus Brain Telegram channel.
The court session was adjourned until April 19 so that Protasevich could familiarize himself with the accusations made before further questioning.
Forced landing of a Ryanair plane
On 23 May 2021, Belarusian authorities forced a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius to make an emergency landing in Minsk, saying they had received a message about an alleged bomb on board. The pilots were ordered to fly to the Belarusian capital a few minutes before the aircraft entered Lithuanian airspace. To accompany him, a MiG-29 fighter of the Belarusian Air Force was raised.
After the Ryanair plane landed in Minsk, no bomb was found on board, but two passengers were detained – Belarusian opposition blogger Roman Protasevich and his companion, Russian citizen Sofya Sapega.
Extradition of Sapieha to Russia
Russian Sofya Sapega, sentenced in Belarus to six years in prison, has agreed to be extradited to Russia, the Russian Embassy in Minsk announced on 12 April.
On June 5, 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarusian state-owned airlines, which were banned from using EU airspace and airports. The EU Council has also asked European airlines to avoid flights over the territory of Belarus. Later, other countries joined sanctions against Minsk in connection with this incident, in particular Japan and several European countries that are not members of the EU.
Source: DW
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