Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich who flew to Lithuania in 2020 and was kicked off the plane by a fake bomb scare has been pardoned. According to Belarusian expert Franka Hummels, “it is not known exactly what is going on.”
Since his arrest, the journalist has been collaborating with the regime and has admitted his guilt, according to Hummels. Since then he has also been spreading propaganda for the regime. As a result, he was already in prison under much milder conditions than other members of the opposition,’ he explains. Protasevich also did not have to sit in a cage in court.
He was ultimately sentenced to eight years in prison, far less than other opposition members received. “With this, the regime wants to show that if you protest against them, you can go back to the womb.”
Different scenarios
According to Hummels, there are several scenarios under which Roman Protasevich was suddenly pardoned. “It could be that something was threatened that made him choose to spread propaganda,” he says. But he also thinks that he may have always been on the side of the regime and actually infiltrated it.
“In the same week, Protasevich married someone else”
Russia will decide this week whether to extradite Protasevich’s fiancée Sofia Sapega from Belarus. The Russian was sentenced to six years in prison last year and Belarus had already indicated it would extradite her to Russia. “In the same week, Protasevich married someone else, whom his family and friends do not know. That makes his turn even more mysterious,” Hummels says.
The Belarusian expert says the topic is quite alive in the country. “Because of the protests in 2020, but also because of the plane hijacking in 2021, public trust in state media has completely disappeared.” Therefore, the Telegram Nexta channel has also been an important source of news for Belarusians.
Source: BNR
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