EU leaders agree on Belarus sanctions after journalist’s arrest
Roman Protasevich, 26, was on a flight from Greece to Lithuania, which was rerouted over a supposed bomb threat. A video has now emerged of Mr Protasevich that appears to have been recorded under duress since his detention at Minsk airport. At a meeting in Brussels, the leaders of the 27 member states also told EU airlines not to fly over Belarus and promised further economic sanctions. Western countries accused Belarus of "hijacking" the Ryanair plane.
A video has now emerged of Mr Protasevich that appears to have been recorded under duress since his detention at Minsk airport. In the clip, which was released late on Monday, the journalist said he was in good health and seemingly confessed to crimes he had been charged with by the Belarusian state. But activists, including the country's main opposition leader, criticised the video and suggested Mr Protasevich was under pressure to admit wrongdoing.
US President Joe Biden described the actions of the Belarusian authorities as "outrageous", saying they were "shameful assaults on both political dissent and the freedom of the press".Dmitri Protasevich said on Monday he was "terrified" of how the authorities would treat his son in his home country." We hope that he will cope. We are afraid to even think about it. Still, it's possible he could be beaten and tortured. We are terrified of that," he said in a video call.
"We are really shocked and distraught," he said. "This sort of thing shouldn't be happening in the 21st Century at the heart of Europe."We hope that the whole international community, including the European Union, will put unprecedented pressure on the authorities. We hope the pressure will work and the authorities will realise they've made a huge mistake.
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