Detained Belarusian blogger appears in video, EU leaders agree to pile more sanctions

In a video posted online on Monday, Belarusian blogger Roman Protasevich, detained when a Ryanair plane was forced to land in Minsk, says he is in good health and acknowledges having played a role in organising mass disturbances in Minsk last year.

The comments were immediately dismissed by his allies as made under duress.

“This is how Raman looks under physical and moral pressure. I demand the immediate release of Raman and all political prisoners,” a leader of Belarusian opposition, Sviatlana Thiskanouskaya, wrote on Twitter in English, using the Belarusian spelling of his name.

Appearing on several channels of the Telegram messaging app, Protasevich, wearing a dark sweatshirt and with his hands tightly clasped in front of him, says he is in a pre-trial detention facility in Minsk and denies having heart problems reported by some social media.

#Belarus Breaking. Pro-government channels published Raman #Pratasevich video address. He was forced to say he is confessing that he was “plotting riots” pic.twitter.com/vhyIs6FmWC

— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) May 24, 2021

He also appears to have a small black spot on his forehead.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, 66, has faced the biggest challenge of his nearly 27-year-old rule from protesters who took to the streets after he was declared the winner of an election last year they said was rigged.

About 35,000 people have been detained since the start of regular demonstrations in August 2020. Lukashenko denies electoral fraud and has accused the West of sponsoring the protests.

• Belarus faces sanctions over ‘state piracy’, airlines to shun it

EU leaders agree to pile more sanctions on Belarus over Ryanair incident

European Union leaders agreed on Monday to impose more sanctions on Belarus, including economic ones, called on their airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace and authorised work to ban Belarusian airlines from European skies and airports.

Meeting in Brussels, the 27 national leaders of the bloc demanded an immediate release of dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, as well as an investigation by the International Organization for Civilian Aviation into a Sunday incident during which Belarus forced a Ryanair flight to land in Minsk.

“We are closing our airspace to planes from Belarus and call on EU airlines not to fly over the country,” said the head of the bloc’s executive, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Further economic sanctions will be presented soon.”

The EU currently has a travel ban and an asset freeze in place on 88 Belarusians, including Alexander Lukashenko, and 7 companies, over Minsk’s crackdown on protests following a contested presidential election last year.

Further individual sanctions could target oligarchs bank-rolling Lukashenko, diplomats said.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said the new restrictions must be put in place immediately.

Read alsoBelarus forces airliner to land and arrests opponent

Source: Reuters