Raman Pratasevich, a co-founder of the Belarusian opposition Telegram channel Nexta, says he has received a pardon after being handed an eight-year prison sentence. This was announced by the Belarusian state news agency Belta.
“Indeed, I have just signed all the necessary documents about being pardoned. This is, of course, wonderful news,” Belta quoted Pratasevich as saying.
This news has not been confirmed by the Belarusian opposition.
Pratasevich, who was arrested in May 2021 after a commercial flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk, was sentenced by a Belarusian court on May 3. He was charged with organising a riot and conspiracy to seize power.
The trial lasted two and a half months, with some sessions taking place behind closed doors.
The prosecutors asked for a 10-year prison sentence.
“He has been a hostage of the regime since the hijacking of the Ryanair plane,” commented one of Belarus opposition leaders Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, currently based in Vilnius, after the verdict.
Hijacking a plane
Nexta, a channel on the Telegram social media network, has been widely used by participants in mass protests that erupted following the disputed August 2020 presidential election in which Belarus strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory. The opposition and most European countries consider the results illegitimate.
The protests, which lasted several months, were the longest and largest demonstration of opposition to Lukashenko since he came to power in 1994. The Belarusian authorities responded to the demonstrations with a brutal crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested, thousands beaten by the police, and dozens of independent media outlets and non-governmental organisations closed.
At the time of his arrest, Pratasevich was living in exile in Lithuania. In May 2021, he and his girlfriend were arrested when their Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was ordered to land in Minsk. Belarusian officials said there was a threat of an explosion, but later reported that no explosives were found on board.
European countries have condemned what they see as hijacking and have imposed tough sanctions on Lukashenko and on Belarus.
Pratasevich’s girlfriend Sofia Sapega was handed a six-year sentence in may 2022.
Following the arrest of Pratasevich and Sapega, Minsk released their filmed “confessions” that opposition said were forced.
In a video released by the state-run Belta news agency in February, at the start of the trial, Pratasevich said he was guilty.
Franak Viačiorka, a close advisor to Tsikhanouskaya, tweeted that “when he was kidnapped, [Pratasevich] chose to collaborate with the KGB... which did not help him avoid prison”.
NEXTA, a popular channel on YouTube and Telegram, has been banned and declared a terrorist organisation in Belarus.
According to Viasna, an independent Belarusian rights group, there are currently 1,500 political prisoners in the country.
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