25 May 2021 \u2013 The Belarussian authorities must urgently end their relentless crackdown on independent and critical voices, PEN International said today, as attacks against writers, journalists and cultural workers in Belarus continue unabated.<\/p>\n
On 23 May, Roman Protasevich, blogger and former editor of the popular opposition Telegram channel NEXTA, was detained<\/a> by Belarusian police after his Lithuania-bound flight was diverted to Minsk National Airport. Protasevich was flying back from an economic conference in Greece with the Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, to Vilnius, Lithuania, where he has been living in exile. According to BelTA, Belarus\u2019s official news agency<\/a>, the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko personally gave the order to land the passenger jet following a bomb threat. No bomb was found on board.<\/p>\n Roman Protasevich is an outspoken critic of Lukashenko, whose re-election in August 2020 following flawed elections<\/a> sparked mass protests that have led to an unprecedented number<\/a> of arrests, detentions and police beatings. In a video<\/a> released on 24 May, Protasevich denied reports that he had suffered health problems since his arrest and said that he was \u2018confessing\u2019 to inciting mass riots, for which he could face up to 15 years in prison. He is reportedly being held in Detention Center No. 1 in Minsk. The KGB \u2013 Belarus\u2019s security agency \u2013 placed his name on a list of terrorists, for which he could face the death penalty. His arrest drew international condemnation<\/a>, with the EU swiftly agreeing to impose sectoral sanctions on Belarus and to bar EU airlines from flying over the country.<\/p>\n \u2018The Belarusian act is outrageous, criminal, reckless, and dangerous. It deserves the strongest condemnation. It is beyond all norms to deploy such means to go after a journalist. It is clear that the Lukashenko administration will stop at nothing in silencing dissent. The extraordinary measures his government has taken to arrest pro-opposition blogger Roman Protasevich beggar belief. We urgently call for his immediate and unconditional release, and for all charges against him to be dropped. Protasevich\u2019s shocking arrest not only sends a chilling message to the independent voices in Belarus, but it also sets an extremely worrying precedent to those living in exile. It also rewrites international civil aviation protocols as well as international law. The international community must stand firmly united in opposing this act of hijacking by the state. The Belarusian authorities must end their escalating assault on freedom of expression at once, and release all those wrongfully imprisoned’,<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n said Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International\u2019s Writers in Prison Committee.<\/strong><\/p>\n Roman Protasevich\u2019s arrest is the latest in a series of escalating attacks against freedom of expression in Belarus. On 18 May, the Ministry of Information blocked access<\/a> to TUT.BY, one of the country\u2019s leading independent online media outlets, while officers of the Financial Investigations Department raided its offices and interrogated several of its journalists as part of a criminal investigation into alleged \u2018grand tax evasion\u2019 by TUT.BY\u2019s management team.<\/p>\n\n