Who is Roman Protasevich, the blogger seized by Belarus?

Who is Roman Protasevich, the blogger seized by Belarus? A profile.

The shock and a sense of sickening horror were immediate among Roman Protasevich's family and colleagues in Belarus' pro-democracy movement, they say, when they realized the passenger plane carrying him was in a place it should never had been. The 26 year-old journalist and activist had been hunted by Belarus' authorities even before mass protests broke out against its dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, last summer. But during the peaceful uprising that had nearly toppled Lukashenko, often called 'Europe's last dictator', Protasevich had become one of the regime's most wanted opponents. And now he was in its hands. "It was really scary because I knew what would happen to Roman," said Hanna Liubakova, a prominent journalist who had a fellowship with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Protasevich also received. The extraordinary lengths Belarus' government went to get hold of Protasevich reflects the importance they attribute to his role in last year's protests. Belarus used a false bomb threat to force the Ryanair flight carrying Protasevich and another 120 passengers from Athens to Lithuania to divert to Minsk, sending a fighter jet to escort it. After detaining Protasevich and his 23 year-old girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, Belarusian authorities released a video which showed the journalist appearing to make a forced confession, and with physical signs he may have been beaten.