{"id":46704,"date":"2023-05-03T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T10:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/articles\/court-imposes-lengthy-prison-sentence-on-journalist-arrested-in-passenger-flight-forced-landing\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"court-imposes-lengthy-prison-sentence-on-journalist-arrested-in-passenger-flight-forced-landing","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/","title":{"rendered":"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>May 3, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> A judge in Minsk has handed down an eight-year prison sentence on the journalist whose capture two years ago involved a false bomb threat and the forced landing of a passenger flight.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Belarusian authorities hunted down Raman Pratasievi\u010d because they considered his <span>Nexta<\/span> media outlet&nbsp;responsible for political unrest that followed the disputed presidential election in 2020.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t In July 2021, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council said the Ryanair flight diversion was unlawful as the bomb threat was \u201cdeliberately false\u201d and was \u201ccommunicated to the flight crew upon the instructions of senior government officials of Belarus.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t EU airlines stopped flying over Belarus after the incident, and Belarusian carriers were barred from entering the bloc\u2019s airspace.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk City Court sentenced Pratasievi\u010d to eight years in a high-security prison, the Belarusian Association of Journalists reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The judge showed leniency because he had cooperated with investigators. At the time of his arrest the journalist feared he would be given the death penalty.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Prosecutor Natalla Saka\u0142ova requested a 10-year prison term for Pratasievi\u010d who has been under house arrest after agreeing to help&nbsp;the investigators and admitting guilt.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The court also sentenced the <span>Nexta<\/span> founder, \u015aciapan Puci\u0142a, and journalist Jan Rudzik to 20 and 19 years in prison, respectively, without the defendants being present.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The EU-based Puci\u0142a and Rudzik were tried under special proceedings that target those living abroad and evading contact with investigators.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Judge Via\u010das\u0142a\u016d Tulejka found the journalists guilty of eleven criminal offenses including forming a terrorist group, inciting mass riots, calling for the seizure of power and other crimes.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t When sending the criminal case to court, the Prosecutor General&#8217;s Office said defendants should pay the state 30 million rubels (some $11.9 million) in damages.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t On May 23, 2021 the&nbsp;Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land at a Minsk airport. Security officers arrested Pratasievi\u010d and his girlfriend Sofya Sapega.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Sapega, a Russian national, is now serving a six-year sentence for allegedly administering an opposition Telegram channel.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t According to ICAO, the forced landing endangered the safety of the aircraft and violated the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and the Montreal Convention, regulating international carriage by air.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authoritarian leader Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka dismissed the ICAO report as fabricated. &#8220;Well, it&#8217;s not like we shot down a plane,\u201d he told <span>AFP&nbsp;<\/span>in July 2022. \u201cHow many people died there? Who did I kill?&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 3, BPN. A judge in Minsk has handed down an eight-year prison sentence on the journalist whose capture two years ago involved a false bomb threat and the forced landing of a passenger flight. Belarusian authorities hunted down Raman Pratasievi\u010d because they considered his Nexta media outlet&nbsp;responsible for political unrest that followed the disputed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-46704","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May 3, BPN. A judge in Minsk has handed down an eight-year prison sentence on the journalist whose capture two years ago involved a false bomb threat and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 3, BPN. A judge in Minsk has handed down an eight-year prison sentence on the journalist whose capture two years ago involved a false bomb threat and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/\"},\"headline\":\"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-03T10:45:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/\"},\"wordCount\":413,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/\",\"name\":\"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-03T10:45:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"May 3, BPN. A judge in Minsk has handed down an eight-year prison sentence on the journalist whose capture two years ago involved a false bomb threat and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing | Pozirk","description":"May 3, BPN. A judge in Minsk has handed down an eight-year prison sentence on the journalist whose capture two years ago involved a false bomb threat and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing | Pozirk","og_description":"May 3, BPN. A judge in Minsk has handed down an eight-year prison sentence on the journalist whose capture two years ago involved a false bomb threat and","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/"},"headline":"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing","datePublished":"2023-05-03T10:45:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/"},"wordCount":413,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/","name":"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-05-03T10:45:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","description":"May 3, BPN. A judge in Minsk has handed down an eight-year prison sentence on the journalist whose capture two years ago involved a false bomb threat and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46704\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Court imposes lengthy prison sentence on journalist arrested in passenger flight forced landing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/46704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=46704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}