Tikhanovskaya: Protasevich’s verdict is a test for Belarusians
The sentence handed down in Minsk by the former editor-in-chief of the Nexta Telegram channel, Roman Protasevich, is a test for all Belarusians, said Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. “Today I ask all Belarusians and all Belarusian women: look at yourself, have you remained true to your values? Because without them we risk becoming a vengeful and inhumane regime. I ask you to remain human,” he wrote. her on Telegram on Wednesday , May 3.
Tikhanovskaya recalled the values of the democracy movement, which opposes politically motivated sentencing, torture and the trafficking of human lives. “We stand for democracy and the fact that everyone is equal before the law. We do not stand for revenge, but justice. Therefore, everyone who currently commits crimes against humanity in Belarus must be brought to justice. But it must be a independent court and a professional court”, he stressed and called for the release of all political prisoners in Belarus.
Sentence for Roman Protasevich
On the same day, a Belarusian court found Protasevich guilty of committing several crimes and sentenced him to 8 years in prison. Speaking earlier with the prosecution, the prosecutor’s office asked the court to take into account that the former editor-in-chief of Nexta fulfilled the conditions of the pre-trial agreement, therefore, as punishment for a series of articles, he cannot be given more than half of the maximum term, and for a number of articles – no more than two thirds of the term. Thus, the prosecution asked that he be sentenced to 10 years in prison. Meanwhile, Nexta founder Stepan Putilo was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and former Telegram channel editor Yan Rudik to 19 years. They are abroad and were tried in absentia.
The Nexta trial began in February 2023. The defendants were accused of committing more than 1,500 crimes, including articles on organizing mass riots, calling for sanctions against Belarus, creating or leading an extremist group, and conspiracy to take power. Putilo was charged with 13 criminal articles, Rudik – 12, and Protasevich – 11 articles. In April, the court hardened the charges against Protasevich and attributed to him, in addition to “organizing mass riots” and “a conspiracy to seize power and incite hatred”, also “repeated leadership of an extremist formation”.
According to the investigation, in May-September 2020, Roman Protasevich was the chief editor of the Nexta channel, which widely covered the protests in Belarus after the presidential elections in August of the same year. In October 2020 Protasevich moved from Warsaw to Vilnius and until May 2021 he was responsible for the operation of the Belarus Brain Telegram channel.
Ryanair plane landed to detain Protasevich
Roman Protasevich was detained in Minsk on May 23, 2021, when Belarusian dispatchers forced the Ryanair plane, on which he flew from Athens to Vilnius, to make an emergency landing at the airport due to a message about “mining”. As an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) investigation later established, the bomb report was deliberately false and was brought to the attention of the crew under the direction of senior Belarusian government officials.
On board was Protasevich’s girlfriend, Russian citizen Sofya Sapega, who was also detained. In May 2022, a Belarusian court sentenced her to six years in prison in the case of “incitement to hatred”. In April of this year, Belarus launched the procedure to return the girl to Russia.
Source: DW
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