Belarusian exiles fear they could be targeted next after Roman Protasevich detained

Name: Belarus releases video of jailed journalist Roman Protasevich as EU sanctions Minsk
Uploaded: 2021-05-25T06:36:08.000Z
Duration: 2 min 24 s
Description: Belarus releases video of jailed journalist Roman Protasevich as EU sanctions Minsk

President Alexander Lukashenko brazenly defied international law to force a commercial plane to land in Minsk

‘From now on no person who flies over Belarusian airspace is guaranteed basic safety,’ opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said

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Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on the campaign trail last year. Photo: AP

Bloomberg

Published: 2:36pm, 25 May 2021Updated: 12:22pm, 26 May 2021

Belarusian critics of Alexander Lukashenko who have fled to neighbouring countries have come to the terrifying conclusion that nowhere is safe for them and the authoritarian ruler will stop at little to get to them.

Nine months into her exile, opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya saw how he brazenly defied international law to force a commercial plane to land in Minsk and arrest Roman Protasevich, a reporter despised by the regime who like her had sought refuge in Lithuania.

“Exactly one week ago I took the same flight from Athens,” she told reporters on Monday. “I could be in Roman’s place right now. From now on no person who flies over Belarusian airspace is guaranteed basic safety.”

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Belarus releases video of jailed journalist Roman Protasevich as EU sanctions Minsk

The former teacher rose to prominence for challenging Lukashenko in presidential elections that were widely condemned as rigged. His brutal crackdown of protests last year drew international condemnation but also tested the limits of what the outside world could do, especially with Russia’s Vladimir Putin firmly in his corner.

With her husband still in jail in Belarus, she’s on the same “terrorist list” by the Belarusian secret service, still officially called KGB, that landed Protasevich in detention.

Since her move to Vilnius, she has kept a low private profile in the capital that’s home to 590,000, careful not to reveal the location of her home in public images or interviews. She never meets the press in her private residence and is always flanked by security detail on her trips.

She has every reason to be scared. In a chilling clip released Tuesday by the Belarusian authorities, an ashen-faced Protasevich is filmed speaking a flat tone from what appeared to be a jail. He denied reports on social media that he was unwell and admitted to stoking unrest in his country. The circumstances of the video and indeed whether the statement was coerced remain unclear.

What is clear is that his capture was also meant to send a message to others.