Roman Protasevich, a former Belarusian journalist arrested when the Ryanair flight he was traveling on was diverted and later sentenced to eight years in prison, has been pardoned, state media report in Belarus. The former editor of the Belarusian opposition media group Nexta had been arrested two years ago and accused of helping to coordinate mass protests against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020.
The arrest occurred in May 2021, after his flight from Greece to Lithuania was intercepted by a Belarusian fighter plane and forced to land in Minsk, but this Monday Roman Protasevich was pardoned.
“I have just signed the documents confirming my pardon. I am incredibly grateful to the country and of course to the president for this decision. This is, of course, great news,” Protasevich said.
After the arrest, which caused an international outcry, the Belarusian authorities forced Protasevich to issue apologetic statements on state television.
Source: TSF
