MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2021) Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, who was detained in Minsk in late May, claimed that he was set up, according to his police interview footage provided by the country's public broadcaster ONT.
Protasevich was detained by Belarusian law enforcement after his flight made an emergency landing in Minsk on May 23 due to a false bomb scare. The journalist, who has been designated as a terrorist by the Belarusian authorities for his alleged role in the post-election civil unrest, may face up to 15 years in prison.
"I am sure that I was simply set up because I have never said that and once I said it I immediately ended up in Minsk. Just like that," Protasevich said.
The channel will broadcast the entire footage later in the day.
The incident has provoked an outcry from Western countries that accused Minsk of hijacking the flight. Belarus says the Minsk National Airport received the email about the alleged bombing and that the plane's crew decided to land in Minsk on its own and did not act under duress. The country's aviation authorities published a transcript of the conversation between the flight's pilot and a Belarusian air traffic official, which did not contain any threats toward the flight.
