Protasevich’s Parents, NEXTA Co-Founder Demand Tougher Sanctions Against Lukashenko

The parents of Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his fellow NEXTA founder Stsiapan Putsila appealed to Western governments at a press conference organised at the Belarusian House in Warsaw to step up efforts to save the life of the imprisoned 26-year-old.

"I hope you are listening to the scream of my heart," Natalia Protasevich, Roman's mother, said. Addressing the journalists in the room, she said: "I want you to convey my request to world leaders, of the EU and the US, I beg you to help us free my son."

Protasevich is facing the death penalty in Belarus if charged with terrorism after the authorities there used a bomb hoax and a MiG-29 fighter jet to force down a commercial flight traveling from Athens to Vilnius, shortly before it left Belarusian airspace, in order to apprehend Protasevich who was a passenger on the flight.

Meeting earlier this week in Brussels, EU leaders decided to ban Belarusian airlines from flying over EU skies and promised further economic sanctions against the regime of dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko. New EU sanctions are expected to be adopted during a Council meeting in the second half of June, including potentially against the potash industry, a mainstay of the Belarusian economy.

"We are asking for sanctions and further pressure on the regime, because Lukashenko is only afraid of force," said Putsila, who together with Protasevich founded the Telegram channel NEXTA, which has been a thorn in the side of the Lukashenko regime since the disputed presidential election of 2020. "We ask for individual sanctions, economic sanctions and sanctions against the state company exporting potash to the European Union."

"It's very likely that Roman is being tortured at the moment, you can see this from...