In prison video, Belarusian dissident jailed after flight diversion says he was set up
LA TimesA dissident journalist arrested after Belarus diverted the commercial flight he was traveling on said in a video from prison that he was set up by an unidentified associate. In the video, the 26-year-old Protasevich is also shown saying that protests against Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko are now pointless amid a tough crackdown and suggesting that the opposition wait for a more opportune moment. The forced landing outraged the European Union, which responded by barring Belarus’ flagship carrier from its skies, told European airlines to skirt Belarus and drafted bruising new sanctions against key sectors of the Belarusian economy. Lukashenko last week accused Protasevich of fomenting a “bloody rebellion.” Speaking in the ONT film, Protasevich acknowledged that the protests have fizzled and argued that the opposition should wait until economic problems gave rise to broad public discontent. Sofia Sapega didn’t feature in the new TV program, but she was shown in a video from prison last week, confessing to running a channel that revealed personal data about Belarus’ security officers.
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