Belarus opposition leader says arrested journalist Roman Protasevich was ‘tortured’

Name: Belarus releases video of jailed journalist Roman Protasevich as EU sanctions Minsk
Uploaded: 2021-05-25T13:02:58.000Z
Duration: 2 min 24 s
Description: Belarus releases video of jailed journalist Roman Protasevich as EU sanctions Minsk

Planes shunned Belarus’s airspace as outrage mounted over Minsk forcing down a Ryanair flight and arresting the dissident journalist who was on board

Exiled opposition leader Tsikhanouskaya said a video showing ‘confession’ by the 26-year-old left no doubt that he had been beaten

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Roman Protasevich confessed to having organised anti-government demonstrations in Belarus. Photo: AFP

Reuters

Published: 9:02pm, 25 May 2021Updated: 12:20pm, 26 May 2021

Airlines shunned Belarus’s airspace on Tuesday and Belarusian planes could soon be banned from Europe, potentially isolating the landlocked country apart from its border with Russia after it forced down a jetliner and arrested a dissident journalist.

A video released overnight showed 26-year-old Roman Protasevich confessing to having organised anti-government demonstrations. On Sunday he was pulled off the passenger plane that was forced to land in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the video made for distressing viewing and exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said that the video left no doubt that Protasevich had been tortured.

“He said that he was treated lawfully, but he’s clearly beaten and under pressure. There is no doubt that he was tortured. He was taken hostage,” she told a news conference in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

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

In a call with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Tsikhanouskaya asked Washington to “isolate the regime and pressure it through sanctions”, she said on Twitter.