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MOSCOW – He faces more than a decade in a horrific Belarus prison for his political activities, but on Monday, Roman Protasevich took a seat alongside the generals at a news conference to express his admiration for the authoritarian leader of Belarus, the country that declared him a terrorist. .
Mr Protasevic, who was pulled off a Ryanair flight with his girlfriend Sofia Sabiga three weeks ago by Belarusian security agents, who was arrested and thrown into prison, made the remarks after entering a room full of journalists.
“I understand the kind of damage you have done not only to the state, but to the country,” he said during the press conference, which was broadcast live. “Today, I want to do everything to rectify this situation.”
Mr. Protasevich, who since his teenage years has been a vocal opponent of the government, said he was not forced to reverse his opposition, and praised the country’s strong leader, Alexander G. Lukashenko.
He seemed indifferent or did his best not to show any outward sign of compulsion. He was dressed in civilian clothes and quietly sitting next to the generals while the cameras rolled. The press conference was not announced in advance.
The raw, and often shocking, confessions of imprisoned dissidents are common in Belarus, but they tend to be ignored outside the country because they appear to have been extracted under duress.
A similar statement was made by Mr. Protasevich when he was shown to reporters within days of his arrest, although he was clearly under duress and had bruises on his arms during that first appearance. Family members said the previous statement was under duress.
Understand the situation in Belarus
Belarus in the spotlight. Several countries considered the emergency landing of a commercial flight on Sunday as a state hijacking called by its powerful president, Alexander G. Lukashenko, the election results and protest. This came less than a year after Belarusians faced violent police repression when they protested the election results, which many Western governments derided as sham. A Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, was diverted to Minsk with the aim of detaining Roman Protasevic, a 26-year-old dissident journalist. Who is Roman Protasevich? In a video released by the government, Mr Protacevic admitted to participating in organizing “mass disturbances” last year, but friends say the confession was made under duress.
Members of the Belarusian opposition said Protasevich’s appearance on Monday was under duress. In protest, BBC journalists withdrew from the press conference, at which Belarusian authorities promised to provide new details in their story about how and why a Ryanair flight was forced to land after entering the country’s airspace on a flight to Lithuania from Greece.
“No matter what he says, let’s not forget: he is a hostage,” Franak Viakorka, a prominent opposition activist now living in exile, wrote on Twitter, adding, “This is not a press conference but a Kafka or Orwell spectacle.”
Sitting next to Dmitriy Gora, head of the country’s supreme investigative agency, Mr Protasevich said he “understands the crimes” to which he will have to respond. Charged with inciting public disorder and social hatred, Mr. Protasevic could serve more than a decade in prison if convicted.
Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Protasevich, 26, called the powerful Belarusian leader a “dictator” and likened him to Hitler.
As the former editor of NEXTA, the opposition website Telegram, Mr Protasevich helped orchestrate a wave of mass protests last year after Mr Lukashenko declared victory in an election his opponents said was rigged.
Using police violence unseen in Europe for decades, Mr. Lukashenko was able to suppress the popular movement against him.
The support of Russian President Vladimir Putin was a key factor in Lukashenko’s ability to cling to power. At the height of the protests last September, Putin issued a $1.5 billion loan to Lukashenko. On Monday, that support was confirmed with a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman who spoke in agreement with the press conference and criticized the BBC for leaving.
Protasevic’s sudden change of view is not unusual in Belarus under Lukashenko, where many opposition activists and media figures have made similar setbacks in their public statements after spending time in Belarusian prisons.
Yuri Voskresensky, a former political prisoner, called his detention “hell” and became a staunch supporter of Mr. Lukashenko upon his release. Some observers have likened these public setbacks, including Protasevich’s, to Stalin’s show trials.
But Protasevich’s position was especially improbable.
Since his teenage years, Mr. Protasevic has been active in the Belarusian independent media and opposition circles. He was expelled from high school for participating in protests. His family was so stressed that his parents left the country.
On Monday, Mr Protasevich said his parents were being “exploited” by opposition politicians and that they could safely return to Belarus.
Frequently arrested and imprisoned for short periods, Mr Protacevic decided to move to Poland in November 2019, working with a team that posts videos, documents and leaked news on Telegram, the social networking site.
In September last year, Mr. Protacevic left Poland for neighboring Lithuania to join Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the main opposition candidate in the August elections who was forced to flee. With Lukashenko’s other major rivals in custody, Ms. Tikanovskaya became the main voice of the Belarusian opposition.
During the press conference, Mr. Protacevic reiterated several times that he was not pressured to give up his previous opposition activities. He said he feels “wonderful,” and that he hopes to “help his country in the future.”
“I don’t wear a Taser, nor do I receive truth serum,” he said. “If you don’t believe me – just say it.”
Sitting in the room, Tatyana Korovenkova, a journalist for the independent Belapan News Agency, told Mr. Protasevich that she did not believe him.
“I don’t believe what you’re saying because I know what they could have done to you,” she said. “I sincerely sympathize with you.”
Andrew Kramer contributed reporting from Moscow.
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