World News | Belarusian dissident who was forcibly removed from plane says he has been pardoned

TALINN (Estonia), May 22 (AP) – A dissident journalist was pulled off a flight that was forced to land in the country and later sentenced to eight years in prison, the Belarusian state news agency reported Monday, saying He received a presidential pardon.

“I really just signed all the relevant documents that I was pardoned. This is of course good news,” Berta news agency quoted Raman Platasević as saying.

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Pratasevich was convicted and sentenced on May 3 for organizing riots and plotting to seize power.

He runs a Telegram instant messaging app channel widely used by participants in mass protests against the disputed August 2020 elections that saw authoritarian Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko win a second victory. Six terms.

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The protests have lasted for months and are the longest and largest opposition demonstrations since Lukashenko came to power in 1994. Belarusian authorities have brutally cracked down on the demonstrations, resulting in more than 35,000 arrests, thousands beaten by police and scores beaten. Media outlets and NGOs closed.

Platasevic was in exile abroad at the time, but he and his girlfriend were arrested in May 2021 when their Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was ordered to land in Minsk, the Belarusian capital. Belarusian authorities said there was a bomb threat but later said no explosives were found on board.

Western countries condemned the flight diversion as tantamount to hijacking and imposed severe sanctions on Lukashenko and Belarus.

Pratasevich has since made repeated confessions on state television, which critics say was made under duress. He was later released and placed under house arrest.

His girlfriend, a Russian citizen, was sentenced to six years in prison in May 2022.

Belarusian human rights group Viasna said nearly 1,500 people were being held in Belarus for opposition activities.

Among them is Viasna founder Ales Bialiatski, who is among the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winners. In May this year, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)