London – A year ago, a young journalist from Belarus, while returning from a vacation in Greece with his girlfriend, fell victim to one of the most striking acts of violation of freedom of the press in recent history: Roman Protasevich, editor of the opposition channel Nexta, on the plane whose pilot had to make an emergency landing in the capital Minsk He was arrested by his country’s forces.
Since May 23, 2021, the situation of the press in the country led by Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Vladimir Putin and dubbed “Europe’s last dictator”, has deteriorated further: at least 27 journalists have been arbitrarily detained by organizations defending freedom. print.
Protasevich is under house arrest, in solitary confinement, awaiting trial. His girlfriend Sofia Sapega, who became Russian last week, was sentenced to six years in prison. Two more journalists from Nexta, Stepan Putilo and Jan Rudik, received new accusations.
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Jailed journalist runs opposition channel from Poland
Belarus ranks 153rd out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom rankings. The organization points to the country as follows: Dangerous for journalists from Europe, up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, due to the persecution of independent media and reporters.
The story of the journalist who was trapped inside the plane caught the attention of the world with his courage. He originally co-founded Nexta with Putilo on YouTube. The channel then switched to Telegram to address the lack of press freedom in Belarus and is run from Poland.
The tool’s messaging group helped mobilize massive protests following President Alexander Lukashenko’s re-election for a sixth term in 2020.
Protasevich and Sapega on May 23, 2021 caught on board aeroplane Plane taken from Greece to Lithuania, forced by Belarusian authorities to make a forced landing in Minsk, allegedly having a bomb on board.
In early May, the girlfriend of journalist Roman Protasevich was sentenced by the Belarusian justice system to six years in prison for “inciting societal hostility and discord”.
According to the human rights group Vyasna, the 24-year-old Russian woman’s trial went on for six weeks behind closed doors.
He was accused of being one of the executives of the Nexta Telegram channel, which uses the messaging app to spread the news about the country’s crackdown.
According to the court, his conviction also came from publishing the personal data of Belarusian security forces on the app. Earlier, Belarusian authorities accused him of organizing riots.
“I feel sorry for Sofia and her family. No one should suffer from dictatorship,” the country’s opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, tweeted after the May 6 decision.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sapega would seek help, but declined to comment on the sentence itself to reporters in Belarus.
“He is a citizen of Russia, so we will continue to protect his legitimate interests through our diplomats and other channels in any case,” he said.
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Journalist imprisoned without trial
Belarusian authorities said that Roman Protasevich has been under house arrest since June 2021 pending trial at an undisclosed location. Organizations and activists point out that the status of the investigation against him is uncertain.
Before his arrest, the journalist and opposition activist was among the “most wanted” in Belarus.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) organized a campaign highlighting the fact that 27 media workers are in prison in the country on the occasion of the first year of his detention.
“[A prisão de Protasevich simboliza] “President Lukashenko’s war against journalism, which has entered the nightmare stage,” said RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire.
The NGO believes that the journalist should be charged with organizing riots, preparing or actively participating in acts that grossly violate public order, and inciting hatred.
#BELARUS: May 23 will mark the anniversary of the government of Alexander Loukachenko hijacking a plane targeting journalist Raman Pratasevich.
RSF published 27 portraits of journalists imprisoned in Belarus and called for their release. pic.twitter.com/BAOCu8abmJ
— RSF (@RSF_inter) 20 May 2022
Colleagues of imprisoned journalists face new charges
On Friday (20), days before Roman Protasevich completed a year in prison, two other journalists from Nexta Telegram received new charges from the Belarusian justice system.
State news agency Belta reported that the channel’s co-founder Stepan Putilo and journalist Jan Rudik were accused of leading a “terrorist organization” and trying to “destabilize” the situation in the country.
According to Al Jazeera, Putilo currently lives in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. He is currently facing other charges, including social hatred and incitement to treason, and is on international wanted lists in Belarus and Russia.
In 2020, the Nexta channel was classified as a “terrorist organization” and now both Putilo and Rudik are accused of running it:
“Since 2020, the defendants have used their information sources to destabilize the situation in Belarus and radicalize the so-called protests.”
“Terrorists have repeatedly demanded to incite hatred and social discord, block roads and coordinate street riots, carry out terrorist attacks on the railway and sabotage companies that can cause catastrophes.”
On Wednesday, 18th, Belarus, the only European country still carrying out executions, introduced the death penalty for attempts to commit “terrorist” acts – a sentence that could be handed down to three journalists during a scheduled trial.
Nexta, from musical parodies to information resource on the Belarusian crisis
Nexta appeared on YouTube seven years ago, which was created by the then-young Stepan Putilo to publish musical parodies of political content. Today there are three channels – Nexta, Nexta Live and Luxta.
The political crisis helped bring the three channels together, increasing the number of followers from 300,000 to over two million in just two months. This is not small in a country with about ten million inhabitants.
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Roman Protasevich, in an interview with Euronews in 2020, channeled his channel “21. A media organization that uses multiple websites without a central website or page of the 21st century.
Nexta means “someone” in the local language. According to Protasevich, the name reflects the idea of a network of thousands of Belarusians sharing the news, telling stories in the state media and even stories that won’t be carried in independent vehicles for fear of reprisals.
He assured that he had received the documents and information transmitted by senior officials who were dissatisfied with the political situation from within the government itself.
The canal became a mobilization tool for the protests. He began sharing maps that show where the police are, where protesters are taking refuge, contacting activists and lawyers specializing in human rights, and giving advice on how to circumvent government-imposed internet blockades.
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source: Noticias
