Opposition decries ‘hostage’ video as Belarus airs interview with detained journalist

Issued on: 04/06/2021 – 03:37

Looking uncomfortable in the video, Protasevich—the co-founder and former editor of opposition Telegram channel Nexta which galvanised anti-government demonstrations—confessed to calling for protests last year and praised Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko.

At the end of the 1.5-hour interview broadcast by Belarus state-run channel ONT Thursday evening, Protasevich began crying and covered his face with his hands.

The 26-year-old’s father, Dmitry Protasevich, said that the video was the result of “abuse, torture and threats.”

“I know my son very well and I believe that he would never say such things,” he told AFP.

“They broke him and forced him to say what was needed,” he said, adding it pained him to watch the interview.

“I am very worried.”

Belarusian authorities accuse Protasevich of organising mass riots, a charge that could land him in prison for 15 years.

Franak Viacorka, an adviser to Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, said it was “painful to see ‘confessions’” of Protasevich and called him a “hostage of the regime”.

‘Pure propaganda’

Ahead of the broadcast, independent rights group Viasna said that Protasevich must have been coerced into speaking by Belarusian security services because he is facing “unfair, but very serious accusations”.

“Everything Protasevich will say was said under duress—at the very least psychological duress,” Viasna head Ales Bialiatski told AFP Thursday.

“Whatever he is saying now is pure propaganda, under which there is no truthful basis.”

Protasevich and his Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega, 23, were arrested in Minsk on May 23 after Belarus scrambled a military jet to divert the Athens-Vilnius Ryanair plane they were travelling on. 

They were accused of helping to coordinate historic demonstrations that broke out following Lukashenko’s disputed re-election last August.

Immediately after their arrest both Protasevich and Sapega appeared in “confession” videos that their supporters said were also recorded under duress and are a common tactic of the regime to pressure critics.

Protasevich’s parents said at the time their son looked like he had been beaten in the video.

In response to the arrests the European Union banned Belarusian state carrier Belavia from operating flights to airports in the bloc and discouraged EU-based airlines from flying over the ex-Soviet country.

In response to the protests, Belarus authorities waged a brutal crackdown on the opposition and civil society, detaining and imprisoning thousands of demonstrators and pushing opposition leaders into exile. Several people died in the unrest.

(AFP)