Minsk District Court on Wednesday, May 3, prisoner Roman Protasevich, former editor-in-chief of the Nexta channel (Belarusian authorities consider the organization a terrorist organization), reported that he spent eight years in prison in a high-security colony. TASS.
“Based on the sum of the crimes, with the partial addition of the main sentences, he finally sentenced Protasevich to eight years in prison,” said Judge Vyacheslav Tuleiko.
At the same time, the court ordered that Protasevich remain under house arrest until the decision came into effect. Refusing to comment to media representatives, he left the courtroom without handcuffs and unaccompanied.
The state prosecutor’s office demanded that Protasevic be sentenced to 10 years in prison, with the accused in his last word asking him to appoint “a fair sentence not related to prison time” and expressed his readiness to “do everything possible to repair the damage he has caused”. movements.”
The Belarusian Prosecutor General’s Office previously reported that Protasevich fully complied with the terms of the pre-trial cooperation agreement signed with him.
next case
In February this year, the Minsk District Court began examining a criminal case against Protasevic, Stepan Putilo and Yan Rudik. The last two are abroad.
The defendants were accused of organizing mass uprisings, inciting social hatred, forming an extremist formation and terrorist organization, calling for the seizure of power, insulting and slandering the President of Belarus.
Putilo is the creator of the Nexta YouTube channel and several social networks have similar projects to their names. Nexta is a pun: the English next (“next”) indicates a new generation, and the Belarusian “nekhta” (“someone”) implies the anonymity of the supporters. Protasevich and Rudik participated in the work of these projects.
In the summer of 2020, when protests broke out in Belarus following the next presidential election, Nexta became a popular and independent media project by the republican authorities.
“According to the prosecution, the defendants, mostly in Poland, published informational materials for subversive purposes, carrying out the general plot of a conspiracy to unconstitutionally seize state power in Belarus. In addition, the defendants urged the protesting citizens to commit acts of terrorism,” he said. “BelTA”.
In October 2020, by the decision of the Minsk Central District Court, the Nexta live Telegram channel and the Nexta logo were considered extremist materials.
In April 2022, the Supreme Court of Belarus recognized the “extremist Nexta formation” with its structural subdivisions Nexta live and Luxta as a terrorist organization and banned its activities in the territory of the republic.
According to today’s court ruling, Putilo and Rudik were sentenced in absentia to 20 and 19 years in prison, respectively.
Ryanair incident
Protasevic was detained in Minsk, along with his girlfriend, Russian Sophia Sapega, on May 23, 2021, after a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at the airport in the Belarusian capital after reports of explosives were found. device on board. This information turned out to be false.
Subsequently, they were charged with various articles, including organizing acts of gross violation of public order and inciting social hatred.
After his arrest, all of Protasevich’s public statements were made in an apologetic tone. “I was really young and hot and stupid when I suddenly thought I could take it and change things in Belarus. Still, my most sincere desire was to change the lives of our people and our country for the better, but I was seriously wrong, I chose the wrong path,” he said, especially in his last speech.
Protasevich and Sapieha were placed under house arrest. On May 6, 2022, a Russian woman was sentenced to six years in a penal colony. The Belarusian Prosecutor General’s Office accepted his request to be transferred to the Russian Federation to serve his sentence. On May 24, the Presnensky Court of Moscow is expected to consider the relevant presentation of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service.
In May last year, Protasevich married, without giving the name of the newly chosen one. “Our relationship with Sophia [Сапегой] actually ended before landing in Minsk. Nothing binds us. Even the criminal cases do not intersect,” he told the press.