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Protasevičius, who left Belarus in 2019, became one of the main opponents of authoritarian President Aliaksand Lukashenko. He ran the popular telegram channel Nexta, which played a key role in organizing anti-government protests, and was accused of inciting mass unrest. He faces up to 15 years in prison for this.
State Television ONT on Thursday night at 1 pm Protasevičius looked uncomfortable and admitted that he had called protests last year, also praising Lukashenko.
“I immediately confessed my guilt under [Baltarusijos baudžiamojo kodekso] Article 342 – organization of unauthorized mass actions “, – said the activist.
He also admitted in 2014 that he had contributed to the Azov Ukrainian nationalist volunteer battalion, which fought against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.
VIDEO: Interview with Romanas Protasevičius on Belarusian television
“Basically he belonged to a Belarusian group, the so-called Vytis platoon … They were three people. [Mus] connected to Azov, – said Protasevičius, but added that there was no fighting in the area of action.
At the end of the recording, R. Protasevičius began to cry and covered his face with his hands.
The father of 26-year-old activist Dzmitras Protasevičius said the interview was the result of “coercion, torture and intimidation.”
“I know my son very well and I am sure he would never say those things,” the father told AFP.
“He was heartbroken and forced to say what he had to do,” Protasevičius said, adding that it was painful for him to watch this interview.
“I’m very worried,” said the blogger’s father.
Franak Viačorka, an advisor to opposition leader Sviatlan Cichanouskaya, said it was “painful” to see Protasevičius’s “confessions” and called him a “hostage of the regime.”
Pure propaganda
Before the broadcast, the independent human rights group Viasna said Belarusian security services had likely forced Protasevičius to speak out because he faced “dishonest but very serious accusations.”
“Everything Protasevičius says will be said in the face of abuse, the least psychological abuse of children,” Alesis Bialiacki, director of Viasna, told AFP.
“Whatever I say now, it is pure propaganda without a fair basis,” added Bialiacki.
Protasevičius and her friend, Sofia Sapega, a 23-year-old Russian national studying in Vilnius, were arrested on May 23 after Belarus landed on a Ryanair plane from Athens to Vilnius.
Both are accused of helping coordinate unprecedented demonstrations involving Belarus following Lukashenko’s disputed re-election last August.
Immediately after the arrest, separate videos were published in which R. Protasevičius and S. Sapega say that they “confess” their actions. His supporters argued that these recordings were also forcibly filmed and that this is a common tactic of the Minsk regime to pressure its critics.
R. Protasevičius’s parents said at the time that they had noticed hit marks on their son’s face in the video.
Lukashenko sparked international outrage by ordering a fighter jet to take over the passenger liner. In response, the European Union banned the Belarusian national airline Belavia from entering its airspace, urged European companies not to fly into Belarusian airspace, and issued new sanctions on important sectors of the Belarusian economy.
Lukashenko, who has 9.3 million. He has ruled Belarus, which has had a population, with an iron fist for more than a quarter of a century, accusing the West of trying to “strangle” his country with sanctions.
After last year’s presidential elections last August, which the opposition and western democracies consider rigged, Belarus has been rocked for months by unprecedented mass protests. Lukashenko was declared the winner of that vote and secured for the sixth term.
The Minsk regime has taken brutal measures to suppress the protest movement. More than 35,000 were arrested. several protesters were killed and all of Lukashenko’s main opponents were imprisoned or forced to go abroad.
More than 400 protesters were sentenced to severe prison terms.
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