Roman Protasevich

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In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Dmitriyevich and the family name is Protasevich.

Roman Protasevich
Роман Протасевич
Раман Пратасевіч
File:Роман Протасевич.png
Born
Roman Dmitryevich Protasevich

(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

Roman Dmitriyevich Protasevich (Russian: Роман Дмитриевич Протасевич; born 5 May 1995), or Raman Dzmitryevič Pratasevič (Belarusian: Раман Дзмітрыевіч Пратасевіч), 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,[citation needed] Belarus. He moved to Poland in 2019.[2] He is in a relationship with the Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who was also detained by Belarusian authorities on 23 May 2021.[3]

Career

Opposition activism in Belarus (2011–2019)

Protasevich has been an opposition activist since his youth; he participated in protests in the early 2010s.[4] Since autumn 2011, he has been a member of the opposition organization Young Front.[5] 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.[6] He studied journalism at Belarusian State University until he was expelled in 2018.[7] 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.[8] He worked in the Belarusian media as a journalist.[9] 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.[10] He also worked for the Belarusian edition of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.[11]

Opposition activism in exile (2019–2021)

In 2019, Protasevich moved to Poland.[2] On 22 January 2020, he announced that he asked for political asylum in Poland.[4]

As of 2020, Protasevich ran the Nexta Telegram channel together with its co-creator Sciapan Pucila (Stepan Putilo).[9] 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.[9] The channel had nearly 800,000 new subscribers in a week.[9] In September 2020, Protasevich left Nexta.[2][11]

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".[12]

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.[13][11]

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[14] and diverted by Belarusian air traffic control to Minsk National Airport.[15][16] While in Athens, Protasevich sent messages through Telegram saying he had seen a bald man at the airport following him and taking photographs of him.[17] Minsk airport staff said they landed the plane 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.[14] The plane changed course just before it would have entered Lithuanian airspace.[17] According to a witness cited by Reuters, upon hearing of the diversion to Minsk, Protasevich immediately gave some of his luggage to his girlfriend.[18] In Minsk, Protasevich and his girlfriend were removed from the plane and arrested. No bomb was found aboard.[15][16][19] 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.[15][20][21]

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.[22] A video was posted in the Belarusian plane spotting community, allegedly showing the intercepting MiG-29 equipped with air-to-air missiles.[23]

Shortly after the landing in Minsk, Protasevich was taken away by Belarusian police.[24] 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.[25][26][27] He had traveled to Athens to cover a visit by Tsikhanouskaya to the Delphi Economic Forum, an international forum in Greece.[25]

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.[28] Protasevich's father said the video appeared forced and his nose seemed to have been broken,[29] while allies of Protasevich, including exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the video "is how Roman looks under physical and moral pressure".[30] The Viasna Human Rights Centre and other Belarusian human rights organizations called Protasevich a "political prisoner" in a joint statement and demanded his immediate release.[31] Amnesty International called for the release of Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, saying "their arrest is arbitrary and unlawful, and its circumstances are nothing short of horrifying."[32]

Protasevich's father also noted that Protasevich does not smoke the brand of cigarettes that are present on the table in the video.[33] 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 were a hidden message of plight during the Soviet era.[34][35]

On 25 May 2021, Protasevich's lawyer Inessa Olenskaya said that she has not yet been allowed to meet with her client.[36][37] 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.[38]

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 the neo-Nazi[39][40][41][42][43] Azov Battalion. Protasevich has previously said he spent a year in Ukraine covering the war in Donbas as a journalist and photographer.[44]

References

  1. ^ "КДБ унёс Сцяпана Пуцілу і Рамана Пратасевіча ў спіс тэрарыстаў". Наша Ніва. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Главный редактор Nexta Роман Протасевич уходит из проекта". 28 September 2020. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Families in anguish over pair held in Belarus". BBC News. 25 May 2021. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Бывший журналист Еврорадио Роман Протасевич попросил убежища в Польше". Новости Беларуси | euroradio.fm. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Роман Протасевич: О политике в семье не говорим". belaruspartisan.by. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  6. ^ "В Минске задержаны модераторы социальных сетей". spring96.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  7. ^ "З журфака адлічылі блогера Рамана Пратасевіча". novychas.by. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Суд оправдал блогера Романа Протасевича". spring96.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  9. ^ 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. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  10. ^ "На вечере памяти Сергей Румас выступил перед австрийским канцлером по-белорусски". Новости Беларуси | euroradio.fm. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  11. ^ a b c "Кто такой Роман Протасевич: журналист, блогер, "террорист" — биография". officelife.media. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
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  19. ^ Plikūnė, Dalia; Užusienytė, Jogintė (23 May 2021). "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.
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  23. ^ "Бывшего главреда телеграм-канала Nexta Романа Протасевича задержали в Минске, посадив самолет. Что об этом известно". Настоящее Время. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
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  31. ^ "Immediately release political prisoner Raman Pratasevich!". Viasna Human Rights Centre. 24 May 2021. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
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  34. ^ "Профессор расшифровал послание Протасевича: если это так, то ситуация очень плохая". Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  35. ^ "Pratasevičiaus „prisipažinimo" nuotraukoje pastebėjo slaptų ženklų: jeigu taip yra, tuomet viskas prastai". Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
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Further reading

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