Sofia Sapega is supposed to go to Russia
Belarus also pardons Protasevich girlfriend
06/07/2023 10:27 p.m
In addition to her boyfriend, the opposition leader Protasevich, the Russian Sofia Sapega was arrested on board a Ryanair plane in May 2021. Belarus tried her and sentenced the 25-year-old to several years in prison. Now she’s free.
After the pardon for the Belarusian opposition figure Roman Protasevich, his girlfriend’s prison sentence has now also been released. Head of state Alexander Lukashenko signed a pardon, which was handed over to a delegation from the Russian home region of the 25-year-old, the state news agency Belta reported. Sofia Sapega was sentenced to six years in prison for “incitement to social hatred” and “violence or threats”.
“Our compatriot Sofia Sapega got a unique opportunity to start her life anew,” said the governor of Russia’s home region of Primorye, Oleg Koshemyako, on Telegram. He also published a video showing him and Sapega in front of an official building in Belarus. The 25-year-old will now fly back to Russia, said Koschemjako.
Sapega was arrested in May 2021 together with her boyfriend Protasevich. Both were on a Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius when a Belarusian fighter jet forced the plane to land in Minsk on the pretext of an alleged bomb threat. The military action to stop the flight and the couple’s subsequent arrest had sparked international outrage.
Protasevich fled to Europe in 2019, from where he ran the opposition Telegram news channel Nexta. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators were mobilized through this channel after the presidential election in Belarus in August 2020, which was accompanied by massive allegations of fraud. Protasevich was pardoned on May 22 after being sentenced to eight years in prison a few weeks earlier.