Jailed Belarusian journalist and girlfriend moved from jail to house arrest but still considered 'hostages'

A dissident Belarusian journalist and his Russian girlfriend have been transferred from jail to house arrest — a move the country's exiled opposition leader said was positive but still left them "hostages." Key points: Raman Pratasevich faces 15 years in prison He and his girlfriend have been moved to separate house arrest after cooperating with investigators The US, EU, Britain and Canada have imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials in wake of the violations Raman Pratasevich, whose messaging app channel was widely used in last year's massive protests against authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, and girlfriend Sofia Sapega were seized on May 23 when their Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was forced to land in Minsk because of a reported bomb threat. Belarus's Investigative Committee said in a statement that Mr Pratasevich and Ms Sapega have been moved to house arrest after they had cooperated with investigators and accepted a pre-trial deal. Marie Struthers, Amnesty International's Eastern Europe and Central Asia director, said putting the pair under house arrest, "looks like a cynical ploy by the Belarusian authorities to secure the lifting of international sanctions".