An incredible sketch with the Belarusian journalist Roman Protashevich in a wheelchair and behind him the Russian President Vladimir Putin with a syringe in his hand and the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, from outside the plane the well-known journalist and activist, is doing the rounds of the internet.
Many Twitter users share this humorous sketch of an… indirect representation of how the Belarusian secret services, in cooperation with KGB agents, managed to immobilize a Ryanair aircraft that departed from Athens to Latvia but changed destination and landed in Belarus, where the activist was arrested in late May.
The 26-year-old journalist worked for the Poland-based news service NEXTA, which last year broadcast images of protests against Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko. He used the Telegram app to broadcast images at a time when it was difficult for foreign media to respond directly to the former Soviet state. Protasevic now works for Belamova, a different Telegram channel.
He has been facing charges of extremism since his arrest, including staging mass demonstrations and inciting social hatred in connection with last year’s protests. He may have initially denied the charges, but they could even lead to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary described the incident with the diversion of the Athens-Vilnius flight to Minsk, Belarus, and the arrest of journalist Roman Protasevic as “state hijacking”.
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