Belarus Parades Detained Journalist Protasevich At Media Event

Authorities in Belarus have paraded the detained opposition blogger Roman Protasevich at a news conference in Minsk, where they gave their version of the Ryanair plane diversion of 23 May.

A BBC reporter who was initially at the media briefing says Mr Protasevich, 26, was clearly appearing under duress.

An alleged bomb threat forced the plane to land in Minsk, where passengers Mr Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were arrested.

Belarus denies it was a forced landing.

Mr Protasevich, who is being held at a KGB prison in Belarus’ capital, said he was feeling fine and had not been beaten. He also said he had caused damage to Belarus and now wanted to rectify the situation.

Before his arrest he said he feared a possible death penalty as he has been put on a Belarus terrorism list. And he would anyway face a long prison sentence if found guilty of inciting unrest.

At the briefing on Monday the head of state investigations, Dmitry Gora, said Ms Sapega – who is Russian – had been charged with inciting social discord and enmity. She is also in the KGB jail in Minsk.

The diversion of the Athens-Vilnius flight outraged the EU, UK and other Western nations. They reacted by banning state carrier Belavia from their airports and urging airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace.

Flatly contradicting independent accounts of what happened, Belarus air force chief Igor Golub told the briefing: “There was no interception, no forced diversion from the state border or forced landing of the Ryanair plane.”

Authoritarian Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has cracked down hard on opponents since claiming victory in an August election widely condemned as rigged. Opposition leaders have been jailed or forced into exile.