Belarus Pardons Dissident Blogger Arrested in Hijacked Plane After 2 Years in Custody

• Roman Protasevich, a dissident blogger in Belarus, was pardoned by the local government after he was arrested in a hijacked plane
• The plane was forced to land using a fake bomb alert to allow authorities to take the suspect into custody
• Protasevich, following his release, thanked the country and autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko

Belarusian authorities pardoned dissident blogger Roman Protasevich who was arrested in hijacked a plane in 2021 after allegedly being tortured in captivity.

The local government took the suspect into custody after forcing his flight to land using a fake bomb alert. Protasevich has avoided eight years to a decade behind bars for charges including terrorism.

Belarusian Dissident Blogger Pardoned

On Monday, the suspect spoke to the government-run news outlet Belta where he said that he had just signed all the relevant documents needed for his pardon. He also personally thanked Belarus' autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko for his decision.

Protasevich, 28 years old, was the editor-in-chief of the opposition Telegram channel Nextra during the widespread protests after the nation's disputed elections in 2020. As per Politico, hundreds of thousands of residents took to the streets to protect Lukashenko's win in the election that many international observers claim was rigged in his favor.

The demonstrations resulted in Belarusian law enforcement personnel arresting tens of thousands of people while also resulting in the death of several others. Like other protest movement leaders, Protasevich fled the nation while still covering the country while in exile in Poland.

But in May 2021, the dissident blogger was flying on a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania that was ordered to land while traveling through Belarusian airspace. He was subsequently arrested on the tarmac.

Belarusian authorities used a fake bomb threat to justify their interception of Protasevich's flight, which triggered a wave of condemnation from Western countries and restrictions on the country's airlines.

The pardon of Protasevich comes as he was just sentenced to prison for charges that include inciting terrorism, organizing mass disturbances, and slandering Lukashenko, according to Aljazeera.

Cracking Down on Opposition

The founder of Nexta, Stsiapan Putsila, and its former editor, Yan Rudik, were both sentenced in absentia by the same court to 20 and 19 years in prison, respectively. The country announced last year that the news agency is considered a "terrorist organization."

The arrest of the 28-year-old dissident blogger resulted in European nations handing out sanctions against the Belarusian president. The 68-year-old previously said he was "the last and only dictator in Europe." He has continued to lead Minsk since 1994 and has used his security forces to intimidate, beat, and jail the opposition.

Prosatevich's online activities drew Belarusian authorities' attention, which came at a time when hundreds of other opposition figures fled the nation. This was due to authorities aggressively suppressing the demonstrations and starting a broad campaign to hunt down dissidents.

Belarusian law enforcement is infamous for using intimidation tactics and coercion to force confessions from people they have detained. Recordings of such activities are later shared with state media and are amplified by pro-government sources, said the Washington Post.