Belarus: Exiled opposition leader claims detained journalist was 'tortured' in custody

In the aftermath of the forceful detention of Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, the country’s exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has come out in his support. Late night on May 25, a video surfaced online which showed Protasevich confessing to having organized anti-government demonstrations in the country. However, Tsikhanouskaya said that the 26-year-old had been “tortured” in custody and was “clearly under pressure” to make the allegedly false confession.

“He said that he was treated lawfully, but he’s clearly beaten and under pressure. There is no doubt that he was tortured. He was taken hostage,” she told a news conference in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, where she has been exiled since last year.

The confession footage also sparked a slew of negative reactions from the European Union leaders, who recently united to slap fresh sanctions in Alexander Lukashenko led Belarus. On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the video was “concerning”, with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas saying Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko must pay a “bitter price” for detaining Protasevich. US President Joe Biden also echoed the bloc’s stance saying that the emergency landing of the Ryanair flight was a “direct affront to international norms”. It is imperative to note that, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on Monday, defended Belarus' use of military jet to divert passenger plane.

Airlines re-route flights

On Tuesday, Airlines re-routed flights to avoid Belarus’s airspace and Belarusian planes faced a possible ban from Europe. Countries including the UK, France, Poland, Germany Ukraine have already suspended flying permits of Belarus’ flag carrier Belavia over its territory. Outside, Europe, Singapore Airlines said it was rerouting flights to avoid Belarus.

According to the Minsk National Airport's press service, a Ryanair flight en route from Athens to Vilnius (Lithuania) was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk, Belarus. According to the Russian news agency, Roman Protasevich, the operator of a Telegram channel that Minsk has designated as extremist, was detained during the stopover at the airport. On May 23, the plane was cleared to take off from Minsk and arrived in Vilnius at 18:27 GMT.

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