Raman Pratassevich

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Raman Pratassevich after his arrest on May 24, 2021

Raman Dsmitryjewitsch Pratassewitsch ( Belarusian Раман Дзмітрыевіч Пратасевіч , Russian Роман Дмитриевич Протасевич Roman Dmitrievich Protassewitsch * 5. May 1995 in Minsk ) is a Belarusian dissident , journalist , blogger , opposition - activist and political prisoner . He is co-founder of the Warsaw news channel Nexta , which positions itself against the authoritarian-dictatorial regime of Aljaksandr Lukashenka .

Life

Activities in the Belarusian opposition

Pratassevich has been an opposition activist since his youth and participated in protests in the early 2010s. He was the vice-head of a large anti-Lukashenka group on the VKontakte social network until it was hacked by the authorities in 2012. He entered the Faculty of Journalism at the Belarusian State University , but was soon expelled from the university.

Activities in the war in eastern Ukraine

In 2014 Pratassewitsch worked for the Euromaidan in Kiev and then allegedly worked as a war correspondent in the war zone . According to Azov commander Andrij Bilezkyj , in his role as a journalist he accompanied members of the right-wing extremist Azov regiment and other units in eastern Ukraine . According to his father, Pratassevich fought in eastern Ukraine. After his arrest, the father denied these claims. Numerous photos of Pratassevich, where he is posing in riot gear from the Azov battalion and with heavy weapons, also suggest that he was involved in the fighting. On the basis of these photos, the Ukrainian journalist Anatolij Scharij Pratassewitsch was able to identify the Belarusian fighter with the nickname "Kim", who gave interviews to several media in 2015. From them it appears that he fought in Donbass for at least a year and suffered a chest injury.

Return to Belarus

In 2017 he was accused of attending an unauthorized event in Kurapaty but was able to produce an alibi in court . Although he had no formal education, he worked for the Belarusian media as a journalist. From March 2019 he was the photographer of Eurapejskaje Radyjo dlja Belarusi and worked at the meeting of the heads of government of Austria ( Sebastian Kurz ) and Belarus ( Sjarhej Rumas ) in Minsk . He also worked for the Belarusian edition of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty .

Creation of the Telegram channel Nexta

Pratassevich left Belarus at the end of 2019. In 2020 Pratassewitsch founded the Telegram channel Nexta together with Szjapan Puzila . In August 2020, after the Belarusian authorities tried to block internet access during the 2020 presidential election, Nexta became one of the main sources of information about the anti-rigged election protests and began coordinating the protests. Nexta was also the first to publish pictures of violence and torture by security forces. The channel and its sister channel Nexta Live have a total of around 2,000,000 subscribers. In September 2020, Pratassevich left Nexta . Pratassevich's parents, like Pratassewitsch, moved abroad after his father was demoted as an army officer and his mother was fired from teaching at a military academy because of Raman's activities.

On November 5, 2020, Pratassevich and Puzila were charged with organizing mass riots (Article 293 of the Belarusian Criminal Code), acts that grossly violate public order (Article 342), and inciting social unrest based on professional affiliation (Article 130, paragraph 3) accused. He asked for political asylum in Poland , but did not receive it due to a lack of documents. An extradition of Pratassevich was refused and disapproved of by the EU, inter alia. after the Belarusian secret service KGB added Pratassevich to a list of people involved in terrorism on November 19, 2020. In autumn 2020 Pratassevich moved to Vilnius .

On March 2, 2021, Pratassevich announced that he was starting to work for the Telegram channel @belamova , previously published by an imprisoned blogger, Ihar Losik.

Arrested in May 2021

On May 23, 2021, Ryanair flight 4978 from Athens to Vilnius with Pratassewitsch on board was intercepted by a Belarusian fighter jet and diverted to Minsk national airport. In Minsk he was taken from the plane and arrested, as was his Russian friend, the student Sofia Sapega . The incident caused international media attention and a diplomatic scandal . In a tweet on May 23, 2021, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsichanouskaya said that Pratasevich faces the death penalty in Belarus for these allegations. According to other sources, the allegations against him could result in a prison sentence of up to 15 years. By a joint statement by nine organizations, Pratassevich was recognized as a political prisoner on May 24, 2021 .

There was initially no reliable information about Pratassevich's whereabouts as a result of his arrest by the Belarusian authorities on May 23, 2021. On the evening of May 24, 2021, a video of Pratassevich was published in a state-affiliated news channel on Telegram. In the video, he explained that he was in the No. 1 remand prison in Minsk. He has no problems with the heart or other organs and is in good health. The visibly abused Pratassevich said that the guards treated him with respect and that he was cooperating with the police. In the video he also confessed to organizing mass protests, which is a criminal offense in Belarus. Pratassevich's mother noted that her son's left cheek was swollen and drooping: "Even under the make-up you can see a yellowish tint - probably bruises were covered with powder." She is sure that he was hit on the nose and that it may have been broken. Other members of the opposition and observers had previously warned that Pratassevich would be tortured “with a high degree of probability”.

Web links

Commons : Roman Protasevich  - collection of images

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Бывший журналист Еврорадио Роман Протасевич попросил убежища в Польше. Retrieved May 23, 2021 (Russian).
  2. ^ Deutsche Welle: Belarus: Who is Roman Protassewitsch? Retrieved May 27, 2021 .
  3. ↑ BBC News: Протасевич в "Азові" на Донбасі. Білецький розповів, що там робив білорус. Retrieved May 27, 2021 (Ukrainian).
  4. ↑ a b Черное солнце Романа Протасевича. Воевал ли экс-главред "Нехты" в "Азове". Retrieved May 26, 2021 (Russian).
  5. ↑ Шарий рассказал о том, куда ранили Протасевича, когда он воевал в “Азове” , Eadaily.com, accessed May 27. 2021
  6. ↑ Суд оправдал блогера Романа Протасевича. Retrieved May 23, 2021 (Russian).
  7. ↑ "Мне не по себе от кадров, где люди с дырками в теле". Интервью главреда Nexta - крупнейшего протестного канала в Беларуси. August 12, 2020, accessed May 23, 2021 (Russian).
  8. ↑ На вечере памяти Сергей Румас выступил перед австрийским канцлером по-белорусски. Retrieved May 23, 2021 (Russian).
  9. ↑ Кто такой Роман Протасевич: журналист, блогер, «террорист» - биография. Retrieved May 23, 2021 (Russian).
  10. ↑ a b c d e f Christina Hebel: The Belarusian blogger Roman Protasewitsch - the kidnapped enemy of Lukashenko. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved May 26, 2021 .
  11. ↑ BBC News: Belarus 'diverts Ryanair flight to arrest journalist', opposition says. Retrieved May 27, 2021 (UK English).
  12. ^ The Washington Post: Belarus forces down commercial airliner, arrests dissident journalist on board. May 23, 2021, accessed May 27, 2021 (American English).
  13. ↑ Simone Brunner: Nobody should feel safe ( de ) Die Zeit . May 24, 2021. Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved on May 24, 2021.
  14. ↑ Авторам «Нехта» предъявили обвинения по трем уголовным статьям. Retrieved May 23, 2021 (Russian).
  15. ↑ Бывший журналист Еврорадио Роман Протасевич попросил убежища в Польше. Retrieved May 23, 2021 (Russian).
  16. ↑ European Parliament: Texts Adopted - Thursday 26 November 2020. Accessed 27 May 2021 .
  17. ↑ Bloomberg: Belarus KGB Puts Social Media Channel Creators on Terrorist List. Retrieved May 27, 2021 .
  18. ↑ Протасевич: теперь работаю в проекте "Беларусь головного мозга" Игоря Лосика. Retrieved May 23, 2021 (Russian).
  19. ↑ Tim Lister and Olga Pavlova CNN: Belarus activist arrested after fighter jet intercepts his Ryanair flight. Retrieved May 23, 2021 .
  20. ↑ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): Belarus diverts Ryanair plane to arrest activist journalist | DW | 05/23/2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021 (UK English).
  21. ↑ Flightradar24: Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map. Retrieved May 23, 2021 .
  22. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Roman Protasewitsch: Girlfriend Sofia Sapega is in Minsk prison. Retrieved May 24, 2021 .
  23. ↑ Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: The regime forced the landing @Ryanair plane in Minsk to arrest journalist and activist Raman Pratasevich. Retrieved May 23, 2021 .
  24. ↑ Friedrich Schmidt: Poland accuses Belarus of “state terrorism” after flight diversion. Frankfurter Allgemeine, accessed on May 27, 2021 .
  25. ↑ Al Jazeera : Outcry as Belarus arrests opposition figure after flight diverted. Accessed May 27, 2021 .
  26. ↑ Immediately release political prisoner Raman Pratasevich! ( en ) Vyasna . May 24, 2021. Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  27. ^ ZDF: After the emergency landing: No trace of opponents of the regime Protassevich. Retrieved May 27, 2021 .
  28. ↑ EU closes airspace for airlines from Belarus - further sanctions will follow. In: rp-online.de . May 25, 2021, accessed May 24, 2021 .
  29. ↑ EU punishes Belarus after forced landing by Ryanair plane. In: t-online.de . May 25, 2021, accessed May 25, 2021 .
  30. ↑ EU imposes sanctions on Belarus over 'hijacked' Ryanair flight. In: abcnews.go.com . May 25, 2021, accessed May 25, 2021 .
  31. ↑ Sky News : Belarus: Roman Protasevich appears in new video after arrest following 'state-sponsored hijacking'. Accessed May 24, 2021 .
  32. ↑ Patrick Mayer: Belarus arrested Protasewitsch: mother of the blogger raises serious allegations - Ryanair radio surfaced. Münchner Merkur , May 25, 2021, accessed on May 25, 2021 .
  33. ↑ Rory Sullivan: 'High probability' Roman Protasevich is being tortured, says Belarus opposition leader. The Independent , May 24, 2021; accessed May 24, 2021 (UK English).


personal data
SURNAME Pratassevich, Raman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pratassewitsch, Raman Dzmitryjewitsch (full name); Пратасевіч, Раман Дзмітрыевіч (Belarusian-Cyrillic); Protassewitsch, Roman Dmitrijewitsch (Russian-Latin); Протасевич, Роман Дмитриевич (Russian-Cyrillic); Pratasevich, Raman (Belarusian, English transcription); Protasevich, Roman (Russian, English transcription)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belarusian journalist, blogger and opposition activist
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1995
PLACE OF BIRTH Minsk