Lukashenko pardons Russian woman convicted of running opposition Telegram channels

Sofia Sapega, a Russian woman who was serving a six-year sentence in a penal colony for being the administrator of the opposition Telegram channel Black Book of Belarus, was pardoned by the self-proclaimed president of Belarus on 6 June. On 7 June she was handed over to a delegation from Primorsky Krai, Russia.

Source: Belarusian state-owned news agency BelTA

Quote: "Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, pardoned by Alexander Lukashenko, was transferred on 7 June from the corrective labour colony in Gomel to a delegation from Primorsky Krai, headed by Governor Oleg Kozhemyak."

Details: Kozhemyak claimed that Lukashenko had signed the decree pardoning Sapega at the request of the Russians.

Sapega thanked the Belarusian dictator for giving her a "second chance".

She said that her immediate plan was "to get her life back together".

In the first few minutes after leaving the colony, Sapega also talked with her father by phone.

Earlier: On 22 May, it was revealed that Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist sentenced by the Belarusian regime to eight years in prison, had been pardoned. Protasevich was one of the founders of the Nexta Telegram channel.

Background: 

• On 23 May 2021, on the instructions of Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus sent a fighter jet to force a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk. Roman Protasevich, the former editor of the opposition Telegram channel Nexta, was on the plane. He and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were arrested.

• This detention drew strong criticism from around the world. On 24 May, EU heads of state and government decided to increase the sanctions pressure on self-proclaimed President Lukashenko and ordered a ban on airlines from Belarus using EU airspace for both direct and transit flights. The EU Air Traffic Agency recommended flying around Belarus via the Baltic states.

• Belarusian state TV channel ONT aired an "interview" with Protasevich, where he supposedly "admitted his guilt" and said that he "feels great". Human rights activists and Protasevich's family believe that he had been tortured.

• In June 2021, Sapega was transferred from custody to house arrest.

• On 6 May 2022, the Grodno Oblast Court sentenced her to six years in prison in a penal colony.

• Sapega pleaded guilty, testified against her colleagues and hoped that she would be pardoned, but Lukashenko refused to do so.

• On 12 April 2023, it became known that Sapega had agreed to be extradited to Russia to potentially serve a further sentence. This issue was due to be considered by the court at the end of May.

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