Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office Sends Case of Nexta Founder Protasevich to Court

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th December, 2022) The Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus on Friday sent the case of Roman Protasevich, prominent opposition blogger and co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, to court.

"The Prosecutor General's Office sent the criminal case against Roman Protasevich, Stepan Putilo and Yan Rudik to court. Protasevich complied with the terms of the pre-trial cooperation agreement concluded with him in full. Subsequently, the measure of restraint chosen against him in the form of house arrest remains unchanged," the prosecution said in a statement.

The court ruled to take Putilo and Rudik into custody in absentia.

Protasevich, Putilo and Rudik have been charged with incitement of social enmity and discord; organization of mass riots; public calls for the seizure of power or acts of terrorism, as well as other actions threatening the national security of Belarus; the creation of an extremist organization; slander and public insults against the Belarusian president.

In the interests of the state, the prosecution also filed a claim against the accused for the compensation of property damage in the amount of more than 30 million Belarusian rubles (around $11 million).

On May 23, 2021, Belarus diverted a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius to Minsk over a bomb threat that turned out to be false. Two passengers aboard the aircraft, Protasevich and his girlfriend were detained during the stopover at the airport. Protasevich was transferred to home detention in late June 2021 due to cooperation with the investigation.

In April, the Supreme Court of Belarus recognized Nexta and other affiliated Telegram channels as terrorist organizations. Following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, the opposition was actively using this channel network to coordinate anti-government protests.