Belarusian activist Roman Protasevich ‘pardoned by Minsk’

Roman Protasevich, a Belarusian opposition blogger who was arrested in 2021 after his flight was grounded in Minsk, has been pardoned, the state news agency reports.

Belta quoted Protasevich on Monday as telling journalists: “I have literally just signed all the relevant documents stating that I have been pardoned.”Protasevich worked for the news agency, Nexta, which reported on the mass protests that followed Lukashenko’s re-election in 2020, which the opposition and the West denounced as rigged.

Nexta’s founder, Stsiapan Putsila, and former editor, Yan Rudik, were sentenced in absentia by the same court to 20 and 19 years, respectively.

Last year, Belarus declared the news agency a “terrorist organisation”.

International outrage
Protasevich’s arrest prompted international anger and triggered European sanctions against Lukashenko.Health rumours
Meanwhile, rumours about Lukashenko’s health have spread over the past few weeks.

He was seen looking tired at Russia’s Victory Day parade and has since skipped ceremonies in Minsk.

In light of the speculation, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told her supporters to be ready for any chance to turn the country into a democracy.

Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against Lukashenko in 2020’s election before fleeing Belarus for her safety, tweeted: “There are many rumours about the dictator Lukashenko’s health.”

“For us, it means only one thing: we should be well prepared for every scenario,” she said. “To turn Belarus on the path to democracy and to prevent Russia from interfering. We need the international community to be proactive and fast.”

Following Tsikhanouskaya’s comments, a Belarusian state news channel posted a picture of Lukashenko at a central air force command base where he was dressed in a military uniform and appeared to have a bandage on his left hand.