Which reports the Russian-language department of the BBC. Pratasevich was arrested and detained in a detention center in May after the Ryanair plane he was on was forcibly landed in Minsk. According to his father, who spoke to the BBC, the opposition blogger is now staying in a flat in the Belarusian capital. His girlfriend, Russian Sofia Sapega, has also been transferred to a rented flat, according to her stepfather.
Authorities have not yet confirmed that the pair are under house arrest. The Russian embassy in Minsk does confirm that Sapega has been transferred to a flat, Russian news agency Tass reported. “They are still under the full control of the authorities, no one dropped the charges,” said Dimitri Pratasevich, the blogger’s father. “They don’t tell us about Roman’s condition, about his status. It’s a mockery.’
Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called the transfer of the detention to house arrest of Pratasevich and his girlfriend “good news” on Friday. However, she emphasized that ‘house arrest is not freedom’. Tikhanovskaya: ‘They are followed every step of the way. It means they’re still being held hostage.”
Raman Pratasevich & Sofia Sapega are on house arrest, but they are still held hostage by Lukashenka’s regime. It’s crucial not to allow the regime to trade political prisoners – this is the only way to achieve freedom for all Belarusians imprisoned on politically motivated cases. pic.twitter.com/BOWT5JJBiE
– Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) 25 june 2021
–
Intercepted
The controversial detention of Pratasevich, an opponent of President Alexander Lukashenko, sparked international outrage. The Ryanair plane, carrying 171 passengers en route to Vilnius in Lithuania, was intercepted by the air force in Belarusian airspace. Air traffic control ordered the pilots to make a stopover at Minsk airport because there was a bomb on board.
A MiG 29 fighter plane appeared in the sky near the Ryanair aircraft. The pilots then decided to abort the flight to Lithuania and land in Belarus. Lukashenko’s spokesman, who is accused by the opposition of fraud in last year’s election, said the president personally ordered the armed escort of the Boeing by the air force.
Hours after landing, the plane was allowed to fly again to Vilnius, but without Pratasevich and his girlfriend on board. They were arrested and detained. The blogger infuriated the government by, among other things, spreading videos of violence by the Belarusian security forces against protesters on the Telegram messaging service. He was also behind a popular app that was massively used by protesters to send messages during the demonstrations last year against Lukashenko’s stay.
Lukashenko was accused of air piracy by numerous countries after the forced landing. The EU punished Minsk this week with sanctions.
–
