Łukašenka pardons journalist arrested in Ryanair forced landing

May 22, BPN. Alaksandr Łukašenka has pardoned Raman Pratasievič, the journalist whose capture two years ago involved a false bomb threat and the forced landing of a passenger flight in Minsk, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports.

On May 3, the Minsk Regional Court sentenced Pratasievič, 27, to eight years in prison, branding his work as extremism and a threat to national security. 

Belarusian authorities hunted down Pratasievič because they considered his Nexta media outlet responsible for the political unrest that followed the disputed presidential election in 2020.

The court also sentenced the EU-based Nexta founder, Ściapan Puciła, and journalist Jan Rudzik to 20 and 19 years in prison, respectively, without the defendants being present.

Pratasievič remained under house arrest in Belarus, as he “fully complied with the terms of his pre-trial cooperation agreement.” He was present at the first hearing and pleaded guilty.

When sending the criminal case to court, the Prosecutor General’s Office said defendants should pay the state 30 million rubels (some $11.9 million) to compensate for property damage.

Raman Pratasievič and Russian national Sofya Sapega were arrested after the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk in 2021.

In May 2022, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced Sapega to six years in prison. In mid-April, Belarusian authorities granted her petition to be extradited to serve her sentence in Russia.