Lukashenko pardons Belarusian journalist sentenced to eight years in prison

“I’ve literally just signed all the relevant documents that I was pardoned,” Protasevich told journalists.

“This, of course, is just great news.”

Protasevich was sentenced on May 3 to eight years in prison by the Minsk Oblast Court.

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The court found him guilty of “organizing mass riots, inciting enmity, creating an extremist formation, conspiring to seize power, and publicly insulting dictator Alexander Lukashenko.”

Two other defendants in the case — Nexta founder Stepan Putilo and former channel editor Yan Rudyk — were sentenced in absentia to 20 and 19 years in prison, respectively.

Read also: Blogger convicted for online reaction to Lukashenko cartoon dies in Belarusian colony

Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, were taken off a Ryanair plane en route from Greece to Lithuania in May 2021 after the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk by Belarusian military aircraft.

Western countries view this emergency landing as a hijacking orchestrated by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko to detain a member of the opposition.

In May 2022, Sapega was sentenced to six years in prison for “inciting social enmity.” In April 2023, she agreed to be extradited to Russia.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine