Blogger Roman Protasevich, a member of the Nexta organization (which the Belarusian authorities consider terrorist), said on Monday that he had been pardoned by the decision of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
He was quoted by BelTA: “I have just signed all the relevant documents stating that I was pardoned. Of course, that’s just great news.”
Protasevich pointed out that on May 16, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree pardoning him.
On May 3, the Minsk Regional Court sentenced Protasevich to eight years in prison. Then the court decided to leave Protasevich under house arrest until the verdict enters into force.
Protasevich’s defense did not appeal the court’s decision. According to a source in the Minsk Regional Court, the verdict entered into force on May 18.
Also, as a result of this trial, the court sentenced NEXTA representatives Stepan Botelho and Jan Roddik in absentia to 20 and 19 years in prison, respectively.
Protasevich was arrested in Minsk on May 23, 2021, along with Russian citizen Sofia Sapieha, after a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at Minsk airport due to a report of an explosive device on board.
After the plane landed in Minsk, the Belarusian authorities detained opposition activist and blogger Roman Protasevich, who lives abroad, who was flying from Greece to Lithuania.
Source: TASS
