Roman Protasevich

Roman Protasevich is a Belarusian journalist, former editor of the main opposition Telegram channel NEXTA and now editor of the Telegram channel "Belarus of the Brain".

On May 23, he was detained in Minsk by Belarusian security forces after the local authorities forced an emergency landing of the Ryanair plane on which he was flying from Athens to Vilnius. This was because information appeared about an alleged bomb on board, although no explosives were ever found. The report of the potential danger came from Belarusian air traffic controllers.

Protasevich faces up to 15 years in prison over criminal cases opened against him in Belarus.