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A request that this article title be changed to Raman Pratasevič is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed.

Roman Dmitriyevich Protasevich (Template:Lang-ru; born 5 May 1995), or Raman Dzmitryjevič Pratasevič (Template:Lang-be), is a Belarusian journalist and activist. He was the former editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta, as well as the chief editor of the Telegram channel "Belarus of the Brain". On 23 May 2021, Protasevich was detained by the Belarusian government after his commercial flight was intercepted in Belarusian airspace by a Belarusian fighter jet and directed to land in Minsk.

Personal life

Protasevich was born on 5 May 1995 in Minsk, Belarus. He moved to Poland in 2019. He is in a relationship with Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who was also detained by Belarusian authorities on 23 May 2021. According to Sapega's mother she and Protasevich had known each other for about six months prior to his arrest in May 2021. Sapega was born in the Russian city of Vladivostok but has spent most of her life in Belarus. At the time of her arrest she was an international law student at the European Humanities University in Vilnius.

Career

Opposition activism in Belarus (2011–2019)

Protasevich has been an opposition activist since his youth; he participated in protests in the early 2010s. Since 2011, he has been a member of the opposition organization Young Front. 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. He was present for a month in the Euromaidan protests. He studied journalism at Belarusian State University until he was expelled in 2018. 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. He worked in the Belarusian media as a journalist. He also worked for the Belarusian edition of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; from 2017 to 2018, as an independent journalist, he had been a Václav Havel Fellow in Journalism in Prague, co-sponsored by the broadcaster. 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. He also photographed Alexander Lukashenko at least once during 2019 European Games. In addition to photographs, he made at least one video report for Euroradio about Chechen refugees trying to move to the EU through Belarus.

Opposition activism in exile (2019–2021)

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

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

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".

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.

Ryanair Flight 4978 and arrest

On 23 May 2021, Ryanair Flight 4978 (Athens–Vilnius), with Protasevich on board, was intercepted in Belarusian airspace by a Belarusian fighter jet and diverted by Belarusian air traffic control to Minsk National Airport. 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. 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. The plane changed course just before it would have entered Lithuanian airspace. According to a witness cited by Reuters, upon hearing of the diversion to Minsk, Protasevich immediately gave some of his luggage to his girlfriend. In Minsk, Protasevich and his girlfriend were removed from the plane and arrested. No bomb was found aboard. 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.

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

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

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. Protasevich's father said the video appeared forced and his nose seemed to have been broken, while allies of Protasevich, including exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the video "is how Roman looks under physical and moral pressure". 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. 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".

The authorities obstructed parents and a hired lawyer Inessa Olenskaya from visiting Roman and obtaining any information about his location and medical condition until 27 May. On 25 May, Olenskaya has not been allowed to enter SIZO No.1 prison in Minsk and did not get a call back from the Investigative Committee officers. The Minsk branch of the Investigative Committee delayed the process of signing the charging documents, and the SIZO staff later claimed that they don't have Protasevich. On 27 May 2021, his mother held a press conference, calling for medical help to Roman. She claimed to have no information about Roman's location and complaned that she couldn't send him any necessary things and messages via lawyer. Olenskaya made a formal complaint to the office of Belarusian Prosecutor-General for being not allowed to visit her client and made a motion to make a medical examination of Roman. According to Roman's grandparents, on 23 May someone visited them introducing as a "Roman's first lawyer" and unsuccessfully asked to sign document making him a legal representative of Roman. On the evening of 27 May, Olenskaya was allowed to meet with Roman, but due to a non-disclosure agreement with authorities she was allowed to tell the journalists neither his location, nor his legal status.

Arrest of Sofia Sapega

Protasevich's girlfriend Sofia Sapega was also arrested on Ryanair Flight 4978. She was remanded in custody for two months. According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sapega was accused of breaking Belarusian law in August and September 2020; they did not specify any details on what laws she allegedly broke. In a video released by Belarusian authorities she claimed that she was an editor of Black Book of Belarus, a Telegram channel which has published the personal information of security officials and that Belarus has classified as an extremist group. Sapega's mother and several of her classmates told BBC News that she was not involved in the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, and had been living in Vilnius since August 2020. Sapega's mother was denied visiting her daughter in prison.

In a 26 May 2021 speech in Belarusian parliament President Alexander Lukashenko labelled Protasevich and Sapega "agents of Western intelligence".

Azov Battalion allegations

According to the BBC, Belarusian authorities have sought to portray Protasevich as an "extremist with right-wing sympathies" 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 nationalist Azov Battalion, which has been accused of neo-Nazi links", using a Azov Battalion magazine cover from July 2015 that is alleged to contain a photograph of Prostasevich. Protasevich has previously said he spent a year in Ukraine covering the war in Donbas as a journalist and photographer. Azov Battalion founder Andriy Biletsky wrote that Protasevich "actually fought with the Azov Battalion and other units against the occupation of Ukraine, but as a journalist his weapon was not the machine gun, but the word," and that he was wounded at the 2015 Shyrokyne standoff. Roman's father, in an interview with Current Time TV, claimed that his son went in Donbass fighting alongside the Ukrainian army. After the arrest of his son, he said that his words where misinterpreted.

On 27 May 2021 the Luhansk People's Republic, an unrecognized quasi-state and participant in the war in Donbas, opened a criminal case against Protasevich accusing him of having "committed a number of particularly serious crimes, which manifested themselves in the shelling of Donetsk People's Republic settlements, which caused the death and injury of civilians, destruction and damage to civilian infrastructure." They said that Protasevich had been a member of the Azov Battalion and had used heavy weapons, specifically MT-12 guns, D-30 howitzers, mortars and anti-aircraft guns.

According to Euroradio.fm, information about his alleged non-journalist connections with Azov started to spread only after his arrest.

References

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22. ^ Troinovski, Anton; Nechepurenko, Ivan (23 May 2021). "Belarus Forces Down Plane to Seize Dissident; Europe Sees 'State Hijacking'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
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25. Спевак, Дарья; Ошуркевич, Татьяна (23 May 2021). "Самолет Ryanair экстренно посадили в Минске. Самое важное – Люди Onliner" [A Ryanair plane was grounded in Minsk in an emergency. The most important]. Onliner (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
26. "У аэрапорце "Мінск" затрыманы блогер Раман Пратасевіч" [Blogger Roman Pratasevich was detained at Minsk Airport]. spring96.org (in Belarusian). 23 May 2021. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
27. "Ryanair: об угрозе в самолете с экс-главредом NEXTA на борту сообщили диспетчеры из Беларуси" [Ryanair: the threat on the plane with the ex-head of NEXTA on board was reported by air traffic controllers from Belarus]. Новая газета (in Russian). 23 May 2021. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
28. "Бывшего главреда телеграм-канала Nexta Романа Протасевича задержали в Минске, посадив самолет. Что об этом известно" [Former Nexta editor-in-chief Roman Protasevich was detained in Minsk, landing a plane. Main]. Настоящее Время (in Russian). 23 May 2021. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
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35. "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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37. "Адвакат не можа сустрэцца з палітвязнем Раманам Пратасевічам" [The lawyer cannot meet with political prisoner Raman Protasevich]. euroradio.pl (in Belarusian). 25 May 2021. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
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39. Silva, Chantal Da (27 May 2021). "'Hear the scream of my heart': Protasevich's mum pleads for help". euronews. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
40. "«Мы не знаем, где наш сын»: родители арестованного в Беларуси Романа Протасевича потребовали оказать ему независимую медицинскую помощь" ["We don't know where our son is": the parents of Roman Protasevich, arrested in Belarus, demanded independent medical care for him]. Новая газета (in Russian). 27 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
41. "Адвокат Протасевича подала жалобу в Генпрокуратуру с требованием разрешить встречу и медицинский осмотр" [Protasiewicz's lawyer filed a complaint with the General Prosecutor's Office, demanding to allow a meeting and a medical examination]. Nasha Niva (in Russian). 27 May 2021.
42. "Адвокат Инесса Оленская: Уже второй день я не могу встретиться с Романом Протасевичем — Беларусь на TJ" [Lawyer Inessa Olenskaya: It's the second day I can't meet with Roman Protasevich]. TJ (in Russian). 26 May 2021.
43. "Адваката Рамана Пратасевіча праз 4 дні пусцілі да падабароннага" [Raman Protasevich's lawyer was allowed to see his client 4 days later]. Наша Ніва (in Belarusian).
44. ^ Rainsford, Sarah (27 May 2021). "Belarus: I'm ready to beg for help, says mother of detained woman". BBC News. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
45. "Протасевич працював журналістом на Донбасі – Білецький" [Protasevych worked as a journalist in Donbass – Biletsky]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 26 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
46. Lokhov, Pyotr (28 May 2021). "Journalist or soldier? Meduza dissects allegations that Roman Protasevich". Meduza. Protasevich's father, whose claim that his son "fought on Ukraine's side" has been circulated widely, now says, "I don't know myself about him fighting in the Donbas." He also told Current Time, which conducted the initial interview in August 2020, that his words have been misinterpreted
47. "От ХАМАСа до Донбасса. Лукашенко о перехвате самолета". 26 May 2021 – via YouTube.
48. ^ "Бойовики "відкрили справу" проти Протасевича, звинувачують в особливо тяжких злочинах" [The militants "opened a case" against Protasevich, accusing him of particularly serious crimes]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 27 May 2021.
49. Отец Романа Протасевича опровергает, что тот воевал на Донбассе

Further reading

• Higgins, Andrew; Kramer, Andrew E. (25 May 2021). "Roman Protasevich: A Belarus Activist Who 'Refused to Live in Fear'". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
• Vigdor, Neil; Nechepurenko, Ivan (23 May 2021). "Who Is Roman Protasevich, the Captive Journalist in Belarus?". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2021.

• Belarus
• Biography
• Journalism

• 1995 births
• Living people
• Belarusian democracy activists
• Belarusian dissidents
• Belarusian photographers
• Belarusian State University alumni
• Imprisoned journalists
• Journalists from Minsk
• Political imprisonment in Belarus
• Political prisoners according to Viasna Human Rights Centre
• Prisoners and detainees of Belarus
• Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people