Belarus: detained journalist appeared in a …

Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, arrested this Sunday with his partner after a fighter jet from the country intercepted the Ryanair flight in which they were traveling and diverted it to Minsk due to an alleged bomb threat appeared in a video broadcast on an official Telegram channel. He assured that he was in good health, while acknowledging having played a role in the organization of the mass demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko which took place in Minsk last year. However, several leaders rejected his statements, stressing as the blogger seems beaten up and the video could have been filmed under torture.

Dressed in a dark jumpsuit and his hands clasped tightly in front of him, Protasevich said in a 30-second video that he he is in a remand center in Minsk. He also denied having heart problems and said he was in good health.

After the footage was released, several political figures said the journalist appeared to have a small black spot on his forehead, which could be the result of beatings and torture. “This is what Raman looks like under physical and moral pressure. I demand the immediate release of Raman and all political prisonersBelarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Thiskanouskaya wrote on Twitter.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and the country’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis also warned that the video appeared to have been “obtained under torture” during his arrest after the forced landing in Minsk of the plane in which he was traveling. “We can see that there are grazes on his face, which is suspicious.”Landsbergis insisted.

The same goes for the main foreign adviser to the Lithuanian president, Aiste Skaisgiryte, who said that the activist’s “confession” was “clearly forced”. “Knowing how most confessions are extracted, we did not purchase the official version “, a point.

For his part, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, expressed alarm at the video and said it was “deeply distressing“As a journalist and passionate defender of freedom of expression, I call for his immediate release,” he posted on Twitter, where he warned that the actions of the Belarusian authorities will have “consequences”.

the The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also demanded immediate release on Tuesday of the opposition journalist and his partner. “We demand the immediate release of Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega, both of whom should be allowed to travel to their intended destinations in Lithuania,” spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.

Meanwhile, Russia, an ally of Minsk, defended the actions of Belarusian authorities and argued that Protasevich’s arrest was an internal matter.

This Monday, the detained journalist’s father told the BBC he was “really scared” to think about how the authorities in his home country would treat his son. “We hope he succeeds. We are afraid even to think about it, but it is possible that he will be beaten and tortured. We are very afraid of it,” he admitted during a video call with the British media.

“We are really shocked and upset,” he continued. “This sort of thing shouldn’t happen in the 21st century in the heart of Europe (…) We hope that the entire international community, including the European Union, will exert unprecedented pressure on the (Belarusian) authorities. We hope that the pressure is working and that the authorities realize that they have made a serious mistake, ”he added.

Until recently, Protasevich and his colleague Stepan Putilo ran the Nexta and Nexta Live channels on Telegram – with nearly two million subscribers – from where they called last year to protest the government of Alexander Lukashenko, which has exercised power over Soviet territory since 1994. and was accused by the opposition of practicing fraud during the last elections.

In 2020, Protasevich and Putilo escaped to Europe and were included in Belarus’ list of “individuals involved in terrorist activities”, singled out for “causing mass unrest”, a crime punishable by 15 years in prison. . According to Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, being considered a Protasevich “terrorist” can even incur the death penalty in Belarus.