'The case against me is fair and there is no alternative to Lukashenka in Belarus': Protasevich gave a very unexpected interview

Former editor-in-chief of the Nexta telegram channel Roman Protasevich called himself an “ideological fool” and believes that there is no alternative to Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, reports SIGN.

Photo: Shutterstock

“In the summer-autumn of 2020, when I tried to be active, I had a fervor, I was an ideological fool. Everything seemed possible! It was a unique situation for Belarus. We looked at it with a certain degree of emotionality. But when an internal struggle began, representatives of the opposition began to share the skin of an unkilled bear: some future positions, the ardor was gone. Our bright idea began to drown in problems within the opposition, showdowns for money, power. In November 2020, many began to realize that the revolution was lost. It was obvious. And then the disappointment set in,” the journalist said.

In an interview, Protasevich said that the conditions of his detention under house arrest were changed due to the fact that he cooperated with the investigation and never hid it.

“Now I would like to somehow correct the mistakes that I made. I want to be useful to the Belarusian state and society,” Protasevich said.

He also said that, being under house arrest, he became a different person. “All my life I tried to hurry somewhere, hurry up, I was burning with work, ideas. I did not notice how life passes by. And now, after sitting in informational silence, I can say that the time spent under house arrest helped me understand myself better, change my outlook on life, plans, analyze what mistakes I made in the past (and I'm not just talking about politics). My loved ones see these changes. The whole situation worked out for me. He was himself a psychologist. I became, no matter how loud it may sound, a different person, ”he said.

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Protasevich noted that he agreed with the accusation against him.

"Yes. I did work on organizing protests. It is foolish to deny the obvious. The case is fair due to the fact that everything is in fact. There is the legislation of the country, you live in it, so you accept it by default,” he said.

When asked if the man Lukashenka, whom he would like to see at the head of Belarus, Protasevich replied: “As for Lukashenka, there are no politicians who would be unambiguous. Every big politician has his own skeletons in the closet, his shortcomings and problems. I don’t want to go further into these showdowns, into politics. I did not have a complete change of shoes, I did not become some kind of ardent fan of Alexander Grigorievich. Just looked at both sides. I have my own view on some of the problems that exist in Belarus. And we need to talk about them. It sounds trite, I understand, but there is no alternative to Lukashenko.”

As IMI reported, in January 2022, Roman Protasevich, the former editor-in-chief of the Nexta telegram channel, announced that he had been released from house arrest.

Roman Protasevich was detained on May 23, 2021 on board a Ryanair aircraft en route from Athens to Vilnius. According to Protasevich's parents, he was on vacation in Greece.

The flight landed at the Minsk airport due to a report about the bombing of the plane.

After the inspection, the Belarusian police arrested Protasevich. Ryanair received instructions from Belarusian air traffic controllers to land the plane in Minsk. On behalf of Lukashenka, a MiG-29 military fighter was lifted into the sky to escort the aircraft.

Together with Protasevich, the security forces detained his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.

A number of Belarusian human rights organizations recognized Protasevich and Sapieha as political prisoners. EU and US condemn the detention of Roman Protasevich

On June 25, it became known that Protasevich and Sapieha were placed under house arrest. The Investigative Committee of Belarus stated that they had entered into an agreement with the investigation.

On January 17, 2022, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced the completion of a report on the forced landing of a Ryanair aircraft in Minsk in May 2021, after which Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, who was on board, was arrested.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

The ICAO report said the bomb threat used by Belarusian authorities to justify the landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk was “deliberately false.”

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• In Minsk the former editor-in-chief of the telegram channel Nexta was detained, covering the protests in Belarus, Roman Protasevich.
• Who is Roman Protasevich, for the sake of whose arrest Belarus intercepted the plane.
• The air traffic controller at the airport in Minsk, who landed the plane with Roman Protasevich on board on May 23, said that the actions of the control tower at that moment led officer of the KGB of Belarus.
• Published pilot talks, Europe stops flights over the country.
• US Department of Transportation (DOT) final banned the sale of tickets for flights between the USA and Belarus.

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