The father of arrested Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protassevich said on Tuesday it was clear his son had been subjected to physical violence following the video released by the Minsk regime. – AFP
Authorities in Minsk released a video on Monday in which Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protassevich appears. Arrested after the hijacking of a plane by the government of Belarus, he assures us that he is doing well and that he “confessed to the organization of massive disturbances”. For the journalist’s father, it is obvious that his son made such statements under pressure.
“It is clear that he was subjected to physical violence because you can see signs of a beating on his face,” said Dmitry Protassevich. According to the father, his son had some missing teeth.
“It is clear that he was reading something that he had been told to read”
“He was very nervous. He spoke in a way unusual for him. He would never talk like that. Clearly he was reading something he was told to read, ”he said. The father said he communicated with his son on Saturday, a day before the latter took a diverted flight from Athens to Vilnius to Minsk where he and his girlfriend were arrested.
“We haven’t heard from him. We still don’t know where he is, what his condition is, how he is feeling, ”the father said. EU leaders on Monday agreed to cut air links with Belarus and urged European airlines not to fly over its airspace, calling on Belarus to release the journalist and his partner Sofia Sapega.