From Europe to the United States to Australia, hundreds of people took to the streets yesterday in solidarity with those in Belarus who oppose the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, in power for 27 years, and to demand the dissident’s release Roman Protasevich and his partner Sofia Sapega, arrested last Sunday after their Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was landed in Minsk, precisely because of their presence, by Belarusian military jets: a sensational “hijacking” of state defended by Russia but which infuriated the Western chancelleries , with the EU reacting to the outrage (the flight carried European citizens from one capital of the Union to another) with new sanctions against Minsk.
Belarus, Tikhanovskaja: “Lukashenko’s regime is a danger to the whole world”
by Rosalba Castelletti
The most popular demonstrations were those held in Poland and Lithuania, neighboring countries where the presence of Belarusian exiles is consistent, but there was also protest in Berlin, Milan, Ukraine, Ireland and the Netherlands. Also present in Warsaw were Protasevich’s mother and father, Natalia and Dmitry, who appealed to the EU countries and the United States for the release of Roman and Sofia and all the other political prisoners, 421 in all. according to the human rights association Viasna. Protasevich, who since his Lithuanian exile has helped organize anti-regime demonstrations in Belarus through a popular Telegram channel, faces up to 15 years in prison.
Belarus, who is Roman Protasevich, the journalist in Lukashenko’s sights
by Rosalba Castelletti
“Step by step, they are creating a North Korea,” protester Syarhey Bulba said in Kiev. Instead, the opposition leader spoke from Lithuania, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, also in exile. “I believe that very soon there will be changes, there will be new elections”, he said, “it cannot be otherwise, Belarus will not give up”.
Protasevich case, Europe isolates Lukashenko: “More space for the opposition”
by our correspondent Claudio Tito
Meanwhile, despite the tens of thousands of arrests in recent months and the increasingly harsh fist of the regime, yesterday also in Minsk there were those who dared to protest, showing opposition signs in a central street, while Lukashenko met smiling in Sochi with the Russian president Vladimir Putin, its great international protector.
In Estonia, among the Italian pilots who hear the “siren” of the Cold War
by our correspondent Gianluca Di Feo
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