In an interview with the Dozhd TV channel, the mother of the arrested Russian woman said that in the response addressed to her, Russian diplomats “are in close cooperation with the citizen’s lawyer”, and the situation with Sapieha’s detention “is actively covered in the Russian and Belarusian media”.
According to the mother, it is difficult for a lawyer to get to his client in a pre-trial detention center: he has to stand in front of the door all night. She hopes that he will be able to meet with her at least once a week. During the entire period of detention, the Russian consul visited Sophia only once. Nothing is known about the essence of the accusations against the mother against Sophia.
“The day before, Sapega's' mother also received the first letters from her - in them she told about her condition in the pre-trial detention center and asked not to blame Protasevich for the incident”, - notes The Insider.
In her letters, Sophia says that she “tries to hold on” and reads books. The letters do not contain information about which cell she is in and what pressure is exerted on her.
The mother asked the media "not to make hasty conclusions" and to "vilify" her daughter in advance, while nothing was reported about the nature of the accusations against her.
Sofia Sapega was detained on May 23 in Minsk, when a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius was forcibly landed in Belarus, allegedly after receiving a message about a bomb planted on board. Lukashenko personally gave the command to land the plane. However, there was no bomb on the liner. Moreover, it soon became known that the message about the "mining" of the aircraft was received only 27 minutes after the Belarusian air traffic controllers forced the pilots to land in Minsk.
Human rights activists believe that the real purpose of the plane's landing was the arrest of the founder of the opposition Telegram-channel Nexta Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sophia Sapega.
A few days later, footage of Protasevich's interrogations in the pre-trial detention center of the Belarusian KGB was published on Belarusian TV, in which he “pleaded guilty” to the charges against him of gross violation of public order. At the same time, traces of torture were clearly visible on Protasevich's face, and dark marks from handcuffs on his hands. Now Protasevich faces the death penalty.
After the demonstration of such "confessions", the international community demanded to punish everyone involved in the production of such videos. In addition, the University of Kiev stripped Lukashenko of the title of honorary doctor of sciences.
Rector of KNU Vladimir Bugrov addressed the members of the Academic Council with a proposal to deprive Lukashenko of his honorary status. The reason for this step was the scandal with the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk. “I think that Alexander Lukashenko is not worthy of the title of honorary doctor of the KNU named after Taras Shevchenko, and his illegal actions contradict the values of our university! ”Bugrov said.