The Minsk Court has ruled on the Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protasevic, who was detained after the Ryanair passenger plane, which was on its way from Athens, the capital of Greece, to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, landed in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on May 23, 2021.

The court sentenced Protasevic to 8 years in prison for inciting hatred, organizing activities and protests violating public order, forming an extremist group, calling for a seizure of power and insulting President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

COLLEAGUES ARE ALSO SEEN TO IMPRISONMENT

Other editors, Sciapan Pucila and Jan Rudzik, who were tried in absentia for being abroad on the same trial as Protasevic, were also sentenced to 20 and 19 years in prison, respectively, for funding extremist activities and discrediting Belarus.

Protasevic's girlfriend Sapega was previously sentenced to 6 years in prison and was approved by Belarusian authorities to serve the remainder of her sentence in Russia.

THE EUROPEAN UNION CLOSED AIRSPACE TO BELARUS

After the plane with Protasevic was forcefully landed at Minsk Airport, the European Union (EU) closed its airspace to Belarusian airlines. Airlines of EU member states have also suspended their flights to Belarus and announced that they will not use Belarusian airspace for their flights to other countries. The USA, EU, Canada and England also decided to impose sanctions on many Belarusian individuals and institutions.