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On 25 May 2021, Protasevich's lawyer Inessa Olenskaya said that she has not yet been allowed to meet with her client.<ref>[https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/protasevichs-lawyer-says-did-not-yet-receive-1259664.html Protasevich's Lawyer Says Did Not Yet Received Access To Client]</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-57247140 Подругу сооснователя Nexta на два месяца отправили в СИЗО КГБ в Минске]</ref> As of the evening of 25 May, she has not been allowed to enter [[Pishchalauski Castle|SIZO No.1]] prison in Minsk and did not get a call back from the [[Investigative Committee of Belarus|Investigative Committee]] officers.<ref>[https://euroradio.pl/advakat-ne-mozha-sustrecca-z-palitvyaznem-ramanam-pratasevicham Адвакат не можа сустрэцца з палітвязнем Раманам Пратасевічам]</ref>
On 25 May 2021, Protasevich's lawyer Inessa Olenskaya said that she has not yet been allowed to meet with her client.<ref>[https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/protasevichs-lawyer-says-did-not-yet-receive-1259664.html Protasevich's Lawyer Says Did Not Yet Received Access To Client]</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-57247140 Подругу сооснователя Nexta на два месяца отправили в СИЗО КГБ в Минске]</ref> As of the evening of 25 May, she has not been allowed to enter [[Pishchalauski Castle|SIZO No.1]] prison in Minsk and did not get a call back from the [[Investigative Committee of Belarus|Investigative Committee]] officers.<ref>[https://euroradio.pl/advakat-ne-mozha-sustrecca-z-palitvyaznem-ramanam-pratasevicham Адвакат не можа сустрэцца з палітвязнем Раманам Пратасевічам]</ref>


According to the BBC, Belarusian authorities have sought to portray Protasevich as an extremist to "muddy the waters" on his detention. The Belarus presidential administration's state-run newspaper, ''[[Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya|Belarus Segodnya]]'', has claimed that Protasevich was a mercenary who fought in eastern Ukraine with a unit called the [[Azov Battalion]] that has been accused of neo-Nazi links. Protasevich has previously said he spent a year in Ukraine covering the [[war in Donbas]] as a journalist and photographer.<ref>{{cite news |title=Belarus plane: What we know and what we don't |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57239521 |work=BBC |date=25 May 2021}}</ref>
According to the BBC, Belarusian authorities have sought to portray Protasevich as an extremist to "muddy the waters" on his detention. The Belarus presidential administration's state-run newspaper, ''[[Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya|Belarus Segodnya]]'', has claimed that Protasevich was a mercenary who fought in eastern Ukraine with a unit called the [[Azov Battalion]] that has been accused of neo-Nazi links. Protasevich has previously said he spent a year in Ukraine covering the [[war in Donbas]] as a journalist and photographer.<ref>{{cite news |title=Belarus plane: What we know and what we don't |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57239521 |work=BBC |date=25 May 2021}}</ref> A statement of support by [[Andriy Biletsky]], a commander of the Azov Battalion, on Telegram dated 25 May 2021 stated that Protasevich was with the unit and was wounded in action, though he assures that the man was acting as a journalist, not a combatant.<ref>{{cite news |title=Situation in Belarus by Andriy Biletsky |url=https://t.me/BiletskyAndriy/1838 |date=25 May 2021}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 22:01, 25 May 2021

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Dmitriyevich and the family name is Protasevich.
Roman Protasevich
Раман Пратасевіч
File:Роман Протасевич.png
Born
Raman Dzmitryevič Pratasevič

(1995-05-05) 5 May 1995 (age 29)[1]
Minsk,[citation needed] Belarus
EducationBelarusian State University
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • activist
  • photographer
Years active2011–present
OrganizationNexta
MovementYoung Front
PartnerSofia Sapega

Raman Dzmitryevič Pratasevič (Belarusian: Раман Дзмітрыевіч Пратасевіч; born 5 May 1995), or Roman Dmitriyevich Protasevich (Russian: Роман Дмитриевич Протасевич), is a Belarusian journalist and activist. He was the former editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel "Nexta", as well as being the chief editor of the Telegram channel "Belarus of the Brain".

Personal life

Protasevich was born on 5 May 1995 in Minsk, Belarus.[1]

Career

Opposition activism in Belarus (2011–2019)

Protasevich has been an opposition activist since his youth; he participated in protests in the early 2010s.[2] Since autumn 2011, he has been a member of the opposition organization Young Front.[3] He co-administered a major group in VKontakte, a social network, in opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko until 2012, when it was hacked by the authorities.[4] He studied journalism at Belarusian State University until he was expelled in 2018.[5] In 2017, he was accused of participating in an unauthorized event in Kurapaty, but he managed to prove in court that he had an alibi for that day.[6] He worked in the Belarusian media as a journalist.[7] As of March 2019, he was a photographer for Euroradio.fm and worked at the meeting of prime ministers of Austria (Sebastian Kurz) and Belarus (Sergey Rumas) in Minsk.[8] He also worked for the Belarusian edition of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.[9]

Opposition activism in exile (2019–2021)

In 2019, Protasevich moved to Poland.[10] On 22 January 2020, he announced that he asked for political asylum in Poland.[2]

As of 2020, Protasevich ran the Nexta Telegram channel together with its co-creator Sciapan Pucila (Stepan Putilo).[7] In August 2020, after Belarusian authorities tried to disable internet access during the 2020 presidential election, Nexta became one of the main sources of information about the protests against alleged rigged elections and started to coordinate the protests.[7] The channel had nearly 800,000 new subscribers in a week.[7] In September 2020, Protasevich left Nexta.[10][9]

On 5 November 2020, Protasevich and Pucila were accused of organizing mass riots (article 293 of the Belarusian criminal code), actions that grossly violate public order (article 342) and incitement of social enmity based on professional affiliation (article 130, part 3). On 19 November, the Belarusian KGB put them on the "list of organizations and individuals involved in terrorist activities", for "mass unrest".[11]

On 2 March 2021, Protasevich announced that he had begun working for the "Belarus of the brain" Telegram channel formerly edited by a detained blogger, Ihar Losik.[12][9]

Ryanair Flight 4978 and arrest

Main article: Ryanair Flight 4978
File:Roman Protasevich.jpg
Protasevich seen here in the video released by Belarusian authorities several hours after his arrest on 23 May 2021, following the forced landing in Minsk.

On 23 May 2021, Ryanair Flight 4978 (Athens–Vilnius), with Protasevich on board, was intercepted in Belarusian airspace by a Belarusian fighter jet[13] and diverted by Belarusian air traffic control to Minsk National Airport.[14][15] Minsk airport staff said that this had been due to a report of a bomb aboard. Lithuanian airport authorities stated that they had not been informed of a bomb threat, and that the cause for the diversion had instead been a conflict between a passenger and a crew member.[13] According to a witness cited by Reuters, upon hearing of the diversion to Minsk, Protasevich immediately gave some of his luggage to his girlfriend.[16] In Minsk, Protasevich and his girlfriend were removed from the plane and arrested. No bomb was found aboard.[14][15][17] Despite the fact that the plane was closer to Vilnius, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, according to his press service, personally ordered the plane redirected to Minsk and sent a Belarusian Air Force MiG-29 fighter aircraft to escort it.[14][18][19]

According to a Ryanair representative cited by Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, it was Belarusian air traffic control that informed the plane crew about the threat and told them to change course to Minsk.[20] A video was posted in the Belarusian plane spotting community, allegedly showing the intercepting MiG-29 equipped with air-to-air missiles.[21]

Shortly after the landing in Minsk, Protasevich was taken away by Belarusian police.[22] A fellow passenger was reported to have heard Protasevich speak of the possibility of facing the death penalty, which exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya warned about the same day. The mass unrest charges against Protasevich could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years.[23][24][25] He had traveled to Athens to cover a visit by Tsikhanouskaya to the Delphi Economic Forum, an international forum in Greece.[23]

The day after the arrest, Belarusian state television released a video of Protasevich, with dark markings on his forehead, in which he stated that he would confess to organizing protests and that he did not have health problems, after unconfirmed reports of a heart condition.[26] Protasevich's father said the video appeared forced and his nose seemed to have been broken,[27] while allies of Protasevich, including exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the video "is how Roman [Protasevich] looks under physical and moral pressure."[28]

Protasevich's father also noted that Protasevich doesn't smoke the brand of cigarettes that are present on the table in the video.[29] Based on that information, a professor at Vilnius University, Gintautas Mažeikis, claims that Protasevich could have been sending a secret message by choosing the wrong cigarettes. According to Mažeikis, photos of a prisoner with another brand of cigarettes from the one the prisoner usually smoked was a hidden message of plight during the Soviet era.[30][31]

On 25 May 2021, Protasevich's lawyer Inessa Olenskaya said that she has not yet been allowed to meet with her client.[32][33] As of the evening of 25 May, she has not been allowed to enter SIZO No.1 prison in Minsk and did not get a call back from the Investigative Committee officers.[34]

According to the BBC, Belarusian authorities have sought to portray Protasevich as an extremist to "muddy the waters" on his detention. The Belarus presidential administration's state-run newspaper, Belarus Segodnya, has claimed that Protasevich was a mercenary who fought in eastern Ukraine with a unit called the Azov Battalion that has been accused of neo-Nazi links. Protasevich has previously said he spent a year in Ukraine covering the war in Donbas as a journalist and photographer.[35] A statement of support by Andriy Biletsky, a commander of the Azov Battalion, on Telegram dated 25 May 2021 stated that Protasevich was with the unit and was wounded in action, though he assures that the man was acting as a journalist, not a combatant.[36]

References

  1. ^ a b "КДБ унёс Сцяпана Пуцілу і Рамана Пратасевіча ў спіс тэрарыстаў". Наша Ніва.
  2. ^ a b "Бывший журналист Еврорадио Роман Протасевич попросил убежища в Польше". Новости Беларуси | euroradio.fm.
  3. ^ "Роман Протасевич: О политике в семье не говорим". belaruspartisan.by.
  4. ^ "В Минске задержаны модераторы социальных сетей". spring96.org.
  5. ^ "З журфака адлічылі блогера Рамана Пратасевіча". novychas.by.
  6. ^ "Суд оправдал блогера Романа Протасевича". spring96.org.
  7. ^ a b c d ""Мне не по себе от кадров, где люди с дырками в теле". Интервью главреда Nexta - крупнейшего протестного канала в Беларуси". BBC News Русская служба. 12 August 2020.
  8. ^ "На вечере памяти Сергей Румас выступил перед австрийским канцлером по-белорусски". Новости Беларуси | euroradio.fm.
  9. ^ a b c "Кто такой Роман Протасевич: журналист, блогер, "террорист" — биография". officelife.media.
  10. ^ a b "Главный редактор Nexta Роман Протасевич уходит из проекта". 28 September 2020.
  11. ^ "NEXTA journalists now on terrorist wanted list". Belsat TV. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Протасевич: теперь работаю в проекте "Беларусь головного мозга" Игоря Лосика". Новости Беларуси | euroradio.fm.
  13. ^ a b Lister, Tim; Pavlova, Olga (23 May 2021). "Belarus activist arrested after fighter jet intercepts his Ryanair flight". CNN News. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  14. ^ a b c "Belarus opposition says government forced Ryanair plane to land to arrest journalist". Deutsche Welle. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  15. ^ a b "У аэрапорце Мінска, рэзка змяніўшы курс, прызямліўся самалёт Афіны—Вільня — на борце быў Раман Пратасевіч". Наша Ніва.
  16. ^ "Minutes to touchdown: the moment a Belarusian dissident knew his time was up". Reuters. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  17. ^ Užusienytė, Dalia Plikūnė; Jogintė. "Be opozicionieriaus ir jo draugės į Lietuvą negrįžo ir dar keturi lėktuvo keleiviai: kas jie – kol kas mįslė". DELFI (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 24 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Ошуркевич, Дарья Спевак, Татьяна (23 May 2021). "Самолет Ryanair экстренно посадили в Минске. Самое важное - Люди Onliner". Onliner.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "У аэрапорце "Мінск" затрыманы блогер Раман Пратасевіч". spring96.org.
  20. ^ "Ryanair: об угрозе в самолете с экс-главредом NEXTA на борту сообщили диспетчеры из Беларуси". Новая газета. 23 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Бывшего главреда телеграм-канала Nexta Романа Протасевича задержали в Минске, посадив самолет. Что об этом известно". Настоящее Время.
  22. ^ "EU Demands Belarus Explain 'Unprecedented' Diversion Of Passenger Plane, Detention Of Journalist". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  23. ^ a b Roth, Andrew (23 May 2021). "Belarus accused of 'hijacking' Ryanair flight diverted to arrest blogger". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  24. ^ "Belarus arrests opposition figure after flight diverted". Al Jazeera English. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  25. ^ "В Минске задержали основателя Telegram-канала NEXTA. Для этого экстренно посадили самолет якобы из-за минирования | Громадское телевидение". hromadske.ua.
  26. ^ "Detained Belarus Activist Roman Protasevich Filmed 'Confessing'". AFP. 25 May 2021.
  27. ^ Marris, Sharon (25 May 2021). "Father of detained journalist Roman Protasevich: Video admission was 'forced'". Sky News.
  28. ^ "EU leaders sanction Belarus over arrest of Roman Protasevich, as dissident journalist appears in video from Minsk detention facility". ABC News. 25 May 2021.
  29. ^ Бацька Пратасевіча: Хутчэй за ўсё, у яго зламаны нос, бо яго форма змянілася
  30. ^ Профессор расшифровал послание Протасевича: если это так, то ситуация очень плохая
  31. ^ Pratasevičiaus „prisipažinimo“ nuotraukoje pastebėjo slaptų ženklų: jeigu taip yra, tuomet viskas prastai
  32. ^ Protasevich's Lawyer Says Did Not Yet Received Access To Client
  33. ^ Подругу сооснователя Nexta на два месяца отправили в СИЗО КГБ в Минске
  34. ^ Адвакат не можа сустрэцца з палітвязнем Раманам Пратасевічам
  35. ^ "Belarus plane: What we know and what we don't". BBC. 25 May 2021.
  36. ^ "Situation in Belarus by Andriy Biletsky". 25 May 2021.
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