Protasevich forced to publicly confess to organizing Belarusian protests

- I openly admit that I was one of those people who published calls to go out on the street on the 9th (August - ed.). As soon as they provided me with the documents, they presented an accusation... I immediately pleaded guilty under Article 342 (organizing actions that grossly violate public order - editor's note), organizing massive unauthorized actions, ”Protasevich said.

He pointed out that he was aware that uncontrollable riots had become a consequence of his publications, and “Minsk lived in chaos for three days”.

Speaking about his condition, Protasevich said that he “feels great,” although he had a little cold. According to him, he voluntarily agreed to an interview with the state TV channel and said that no one had made up him before the conversation in order to hide his injuries. Earlier, we will remind, this version was put forward by Internet users who watched the video of the interrogation of Protasevich and noticed strange marks on his face, similar to makeup bruises.

As for the reaction of his associates to the interview, Protasevich noted that it is difficult for him to predict their reaction, but he believes that many will begin to condemn him, and the actions in his support "will come to naught".

On the air of Belarusian television, Roman Protasevich burst into tears, saying that he “never wants to get involved in politics anymore,” but wants to live an ordinary life and stop running.

Previously, he expressed the assumption that his detention could be involved in one of his companions, with whom he had a personal conflict. Having voiced this opinion, Protasevich named Franak Vyachorka, a former adviser to the presidential candidate of Belarus Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

There is no doubt that "interrogations with intimidation" or, if not euphemisms, torture were used against Roman Protasevich.

We will remind that the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that Protasevich could face the death penalty.

Protasevich and his girlfriend - a citizen of the Russian Federation - Sophia Sapega were detained after an emergency landing of an Athens-Vilnius plane in Minsk. Both are currently under arrest for two months and are in jail. During the interrogation of Sapieha, it turned out that she was the editor of the Telegram channel, which published the personal data of the Belarusian security forces.

We also note that such a "grateful" interview with Maria Kolesnikova never appeared on Belarusian TV. This suggests that not everyone can be broken in the dungeons of the Belarusian KGB.