Status: 25.06.2021 10:49 a.m.
Almost five weeks have passed since the Belarusian opposition protassevich and his partner were arrested after a forced emergency landing in Minsk. Now both are said to have been transferred to house arrest.
Roman Protassevich and his partner Sofia Sapega have apparently left prison. The British television broadcaster BBC – citing Protassevich’s father – and the Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya report unanimously. Both are under house arrest in an apartment in Minsk. They would thus continue to be under the full control of the Belarusian authorities.
Opposition leader Tichanovskaya described the two as hostages of the system of ruler Alexander Lukashenko. They are still charged and are under the pressure of their tormentors. “We are in contact with Roman’s parents – they are not told anything about their son and have no opportunity to speak to him themselves. They are convinced that the regime is playing a game using the lives of Roman and Sofia. ” In addition, there are still more than 500 prisoners in Belarusian prisons.
The government in Belarus has not yet confirmed the relocation. Only the Russian embassy in Minsk stated that the Russian citizen Sapega had been transferred to house arrest.
Arrested after forced landing
Protassevich was on board a Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius at the end of May. Shortly before the destination – and thus shortly before reaching the EU airspace – the machine was forced to land in Minsk by Belarusian military jets. He and his girlfriend were arrested there.
Protassevich, who was wanted to be wanted in his home country for inciting protests against Lukashenko, among other things, had lived in exile in Lithuania. He faces many years imprisonment. Protassewitsch is one of the founders of the government-critical news channel Nexta. The authorities in Belarus classify Nexta as “extremist”. The channel had repeatedly called for mass protests against Lukashenko after the election last year.
The arrest sparked international protests. Only yesterday the EU imposed sanctions on Belarus. These are aimed primarily at Belarusian state-owned companies and are intended to make it more difficult for them to access the EU capital market. Affected are companies that earn money with petroleum products, potash fertilizers and goods for the manufacture of tobacco products.