Raman Pratasevich
blogger, journalist
Date of birth: 5 May 1995
Date of detention: 23 May 2021
Charges indicted:
Part 1 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code — Organization of riots
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Art. 361 of the Criminal Code — Calls for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code — Creation of an extremist formation, or participation in it
Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Art. 367 of the Criminal Code — Slander against the President of the Republic of Belarus
Sentence: 8 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Judge: Viachaslau Tuleika
Prosecutor: Natallia Sakalova
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Raman Pratasevich is a well-known blogger and journalist based in Poland.
In the summer of 2020, during mass protests against the rigged presidential election, he was the editor-in-chief of the popular opposition Telegram channel NEXTA. After leaving NEXTA, he became the editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel called "Belarus Golovnogo Mozga", previously administered by political prisoner Ihar Losik. Both channels were declared extremist by the Belarusian authorities.
Pratasevich is facing charges under Part 1 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code (organization of mass riots), Part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (organization or active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order) and Part 3 of Art. 130 of the Criminal Code (incitement to social discord).
On May 23, Raman Pratasevich was detained by Belarusian security forces at the Minsk National Airport, following the forced landing of a Ryanair passenger airliner. His girlfriend Sofia Sapega, a student of the European Humanities University, was arbitrarily detained together with Raman Pratasevich.
On June 24, he and Sofia Sapega were moved to house arrest.
