{"id":2831,"date":"2021-05-24T22:24:08","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T22:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/im-proud-of-my-son-hes-a-hero-meduza-speaks-to-the-mother-of-jailed-belarusian-journalist-roman-protasevich.html"},"modified":"2021-05-24T22:24:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T22:24:10","slug":"im-proud-of-my-son-hes-a-hero-meduza-speaks-to-the-mother-of-jailed-belarusian-journalist-roman-protasevich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/im-proud-of-my-son-hes-a-hero-meduza-speaks-to-the-mother-of-jailed-belarusian-journalist-roman-protasevich.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m proud of my son. He\u2019s a hero\u2019 Meduza speaks to the mother of jailed Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reuters \/ Scanpix \/ LETA<\/figure>\n

Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich (Raman Pratasevich) was arrested in Minsk on May 23. The former editor-in-chief of the prominent Belarusian opposition outlet Nexta was flying from Athens to Vilnius when the Belarusian authorities diverted his Ryanair flight to Minsk due to an alleged bomb scare (Belarus\u2019s transport authority later claimed that it had received a false threat from Hamas). Roman Protasevich\u2019s whereabouts were unknown until late in the day on May 24, when Belarusian police officials confirmed that he was in custody in a pre-trial detention center in Minsk. Not long afterward, a pro-government Telegram channel released the first footage of Protasevich since his arrest \u2014 a video in which he asserts that he was \u201ccooperating with the investigation\u201d and had confessed to organizing riots in Minsk (a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison). Earlier in the day, Meduza special correspondent Alexandra Sivtsova interviewed the jailed journalist\u2019s mother, Natalya Protasevich, who spoke about her son\u2019s arrest, his journalistic work, and his dreams for the future of Belarus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Please note. <\/strong>This is a summary of Alexandra Sivtsova\u2019s interview with Natalya Protasevich. You can read the full Q&A in Russian here.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Asked how she\u2019s feeling, Natalya Protasevich says she\u2019s hardly thinking about herself right now. \u201c[I had] a sleepless night, my heart aches. But now I\u2019ve forgotten about my own well-being. All my thoughts are only about my son.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Belarusian authorities removed her 26-year-old son, Roman Protasevich, from a Ryanair flight that was diverted to Minsk on May 23. They arrested him in the Minsk National Airport. At the time of Natalya\u2019s interview with Meduza, Roman\u2019s whereabouts were unknown \u2014 \u201ceven to the lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Update. <\/strong>After Meduza\u2019s interview with Natalya Protasevich was published, a pro-government Telegram channel released the first footage of Roman Protasevich since his arrest. In the video, Protasevich confirms that he\u2019s in pre-trial detention in Minsk and that he isn\u2019t experiencing any health problems.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Roman Protasevich rose to prominence as the editor-in-chief of the Telegram-based news platform Nexta, which operates out of Poland. Under his leadership \u2014 and amid the protests against Alexander Lukashenko that followed the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, \u2014 Nexta grew to become one of the country\u2019s most prominent opposition news sources. Protasevich left the Nexta team in the fall of 2020 and relocated to Lithuania, where he became the editor of another popular Belarusian opposition Telegram channel, Belamova (Belarus Golovnogo Mozga).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amid a crackdown on the opposition that has been going on for the better part of a year, the Belarusian authorities designated both Belamova and Nexta as \u201cextremist.\u201d In November 2020, Protasevich was added to the Belarusian security service\u2019s terrorism watchlist, along with Nexta founder Stepan Putilo (Stsiapan Putsila). In Belarus, Protasevich is facing charges of organizing mass riots and \u201cinciting social enmity\u201d against government and police officials \u2014 felonies that carry punishments of up to 15 and 12 years in prison, respectively. Moreover, if charged with terrorism, Protasevich could face the death penalty.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of my son. He\u2019s a hero. He\u2019s a man who has always stood for justice only. A man who has always stood for truthful coverage of events in [Belarus],\u201d Natalya tells Meduza. \u201cRoma is a very strong guy. He\u2019s honest. I hope that he will withstand the tests that he has to go through now. Despite the horror that is taking place in the country, we firmly believe that justice will prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n