33 Facts About Roman Protasevich

Roman Dmitriyevich Protasevich or Raman Dzmitryevich Pratasevich was born on 5 May 1995 and is a Belarusian blogger and political activist.

Roman Protasevich was the editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta and chief editor of the Telegram channel Belarus of the Brain.

Roman Protasevich was born on 5 May 1995 in Minsk, Belarus.

Roman Protasevich's father is a Belarusian army reserve officer and a lecturer at a Belarusian military academy; he was stripped of his military rank and awards by a personal decree of President Alexander Lukashenko on 6 May 2021.

Roman Protasevich's parents moved to join their son in Poland in August 2020.

Roman Protasevich was in a relationship with Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen, who was detained by Belarusian authorities on 23 May 2021.

Roman Protasevich has been an anti-government activist and has participated in protests since the early 2010s, leading to several arrests.

Roman Protasevich co-administered a major group in VKontakte, a social network, in opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko until 2012, when it was hacked by the authorities.

Roman Protasevich studied journalism at Belarusian State University until he was expelled in 2018.

Roman Protasevich had been a Vaclav Havel Fellow in Journalism in Prague, co-sponsored by the broadcaster.

In 2019, Roman Protasevich moved to Poland, and on 22 January 2020, he announced that he had asked for political asylum there.

On 2 March 2021, Roman Protasevich announced that he had begun working for the Telegram channel Belarus of the Brain, formerly edited by a detained blogger, Ihar Losik.

Shortly after landing in Minsk, Roman Protasevich was taken away by Belarusian police.

The mass unrest charges against Roman Protasevich could carry a prison sentence of up to fifteen years.

Roman Protasevich had traveled to Athens to cover a visit by Tsikhanouskaya to the Delphi Economic Forum.

The day after the forced Ryanair landing, Belarusian authorities issued a video in which Roman Protasevich claimed he had been treated well and not been harmed, though he looked visibly stressed.

Protasevich's father said the video appeared forced and his nose seemed to have been broken, while allies of Protasevich, including exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the video "is how Roman looks under physical and moral pressure".

Roman Protasevich said she had no information about his location and complained that she could not send him any things or messages via his lawyer.

On 3 June 2021, another video of Roman Protasevich was aired by Belarus state media in which he, apparently under duress, repeated his "confessions".

Allegedly, Roman Protasevich was provided an internet connection on 7 July 2021, and he created a Twitter account, stating he was staying with Sapega in a private house with a courtyard outside the city and that no one had beaten him.

Roman Protasevich pleaded guilty to the initial charges against him, and his trial opened on 16 February 2023.

Roman Protasevich was not put into a cage during the first hearing, as is usual with defendants facing a trial, and he said that he was "prepared to face any outcome".

Roman Protasevich admitted to being guilty and claimed to have been used by others in his actions.

Roman Protasevich's defence asked for a reduced sentence, as a lengthy term would "impede [Protasevich] from forming a family".

In May 2023, Roman Protasevich's mother returned from Poland to Belarus.

Roman Protasevich is a very dark figure in this whole story.

On 19 June 2023, Roman Protasevich was assigned the conditions of his pardon, including mandatory reports to a supervisor, reports of his residence, and prohibition from leaving Belarus.

Belarusian news media accused Roman Protasevich of fighting alongside the Ukrainian Azov Battalion.

Roman Protasevich said in 2020 that he had spent a year in Ukraine covering the war in Donbas as a freelance photojournalist.

The Luhansk People's Republic, an unrecognized breakaway polity and participant in the war in Donbas, accused Roman Protasevich of having been a member of the Azov Battalion and having "committed a number of particularly serious crimes, which manifested themselves in the shelling of Donetsk People's Republic settlements, leading to the death and injury of civilians as well as destruction and damage to civilian infrastructure".

The Luhansk People's Republic opened a criminal case against Roman Protasevich and asked for his extradition from Belarus.

Alexander Lukashenko said he was not opposed to Roman Protasevich being interrogated by investigators from the rebel republics involved in the Donbas war against Ukraine, as long as it happened on Belarusian soil.

On 16 June 2021, representatives of the Luhansk People's Republic declared that Roman Protasevich had been "interrogated".