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“This scandalous incident and video, which appears to have been perpetrated by R. Pratasevičius during the violence, are shameful attacks both against different political views and against freedom of the press,” Biden said.
The statement came after Belarusian State Television published a video of Pratasevic’s detainee saying he was cooperating with law enforcement officials and giving “confessions” about the protest allegations.
“I welcome the news that the European Union has called for specific economic sanctions and other measures and have asked my team to develop appropriate options to bring those responsible to justice,” the US President added in a statement. .
Belarusian authoritarian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenko sparked international outrage on Sunday by sending a fighter jet to forcibly land a Ryanair jet carrying 26-year-old Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega from Athens to Vilnius in Minsk. They were arrested.
EU leaders agreed on Monday to suspend air travel with Belarus, and the bloc said it would adopt more “targeted economic sanctions” against Belarusian officials, further expanding the blacklist, which already includes 88 regime members and seven companies. due to the repression of the opposition.
In the aforementioned video, R. Pratasevičius, who is facing a 15-year prison sentence in Belarus, spoke while sitting in a room at a table wearing a black hooded sweater, his face showing signs of recent abrasions.
He said the treatment given by the officials was “as fair and legal as possible.”
“The United States joins countries around the world in calling for his release, as well as the release of hundreds of political prisoners who have been unjustly detained by the Lukashenko regime,” Biden said.
The White House added that Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had spoken with exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Cichanouskaya to convey “strong US support for the Belarusian people’s demands for democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
