Russian Sophia Sapega, convicted in Belarus, may be pardoned before the end of this year. His lawyer, Anton Gashinsky, spoke about this in a comment to the BBC. It has now passed the first stage of the process.
“The colonial administration approved of Sophia’s petition and acknowledged that it had taken all measures to seek amnesty. It will then be evaluated by the presidential pardon commission, which could take about three months,” he said.
In making a decision, the commission took into account the opinion of the colony administration, the behavior of the girl, her attitude to work and life in the colony in general, as well as her nature, gravity and degree. Against the public danger of the crime committed In addition, the duration of the sentence, the compensation for the labor caused, etc.
The lawyer said that the colonial administration approved Sapieha’s request for pardon on September 6, and the convict reported this to his relatives on the same day.
“She lives in the hope of salvation, she wishes not to deprive her of that hope, [пишет]Sapega’s mother Anna Dudich told the publication she couldn’t do without it.
According to a relative, the girl is sewing in the colony and her health “leaves a lot to be desired” due to stress.
Sapieha twice petitioned Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for amnesty through the colonial administration. He sent the document a second time at the end of June 2022.
At the same time, the Russian woman’s lawyer told socialbites.ca that Sapieha would have enough arguments to honor the petition.
“The conditions that must be met in order to be eligible for the presidential pardon have been fulfilled by Sofia. “We trust the President to show humanism and compassion and release him from serving his sentence,” Anton Gashinsky said on June 27.
According to him, the purpose of deprivation of liberty is to “heal man”, not to suffer. “He has recovered. The lawyer is ready to socialize and continue living in the community,” he said.
He also noted that Sapieha had a hard time withstanding the prison sentence, as the conditions of detention were “rather difficult”.
“Psychologically it is very difficult for him. He is depressed and of course wants to be released as soon as possible to be with his family, his mother.”
However, Gashinsky did not comment on her client’s attitude towards her ex-boyfriend, Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich.
On June 3, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gave Sapieha hope to return to Russia. He admitted that this was possible, as he took into account his Minsk citizenship.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Sapieha could apply for an amnesty for contributing “to the disclosure of crimes and the elimination of the consequences of their commission.” In this case, the document is evaluated by the President.
“As practice shows, in such cases, the authorities apply an individual approach, taking into account the degree of public danger of the act, the guilty conscience and admission of guilt, cooperation with the investigation, reimbursement. The Russian department provided information about all the fines imposed and other circumstances of the case.
In May 2021, Belarusian authorities forcibly landed a RyanAir plane flying from Athens to Vilnius in Minsk. The liner urgently landed in the Belarusian capital after reports of a later unconfirmed bomb threat. Roman Protasevich, former editor-in-chief of the NEXTA Telegram channel, and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, were detained at the airport.
The Russian woman was accused of being the administrator of the Black Book of Belarus Telegram channel. This source published personal data of security guards who mistreated participants in mass protests after the results of the 2020 presidential election were announced.
After some time, Protasevich gave a long interview to Belarusian television, admitting that he had organized the riots, stating that he wanted to “fix everything and live an ordinary, quiet life.” He was released under house arrest. In January 2022, Protasevich got a job at the Belarusian pro-government Center for Systemic Human Rights.
In May, Sapega was found guilty of “inciting societal enmity and discord”. He was sentenced to six years in prison. Now Sapieha is serving her sentence in a penal colony in Gomel. Shortly after Sofia broke up with Sapega, Protasevich married another girl.
Source: Gazeta
Jackson Ruhl is a tech and sci-fi expert, who writes for “Social Bites”. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of technology and science fiction.