MINSK, May 30. /TASS/: Opposition blogger Roman Protasevich, who was detained at an airport in Minsk, is in a detention facility of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB), and has received the first delivery from his relatives, the Vesna human rights center unregistered in the country said on its Telegram channel.
"Roman Protasevich has been transferred to the KGB detention facility," the report said on Sunday. "There is also information that the first delivery from his sister has arrived, but a book was taken away," it noted.
On May 27, attorney Inessa Olenskaya visited Protasevich, but she could not reveal his whereabouts and particular charges due to a non-disclosure statement given to the investigators.
On May 23, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair plane that took off from Athens made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a reported bomb threat. A MiG-29 fighter jet alert crew was scrambled to escort the plane. After the landing, the plane was inspected and no bomb was found inside. The Belarusian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into a false bomb alert. Among the passengers on the flight was Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which Minsk recognizes as extremist. Protasevich was detained by law enforcement officials once the plane had landed in the Belarusian capital. Russian national Sofia Sapega was also detained. Protasevich, who has been charged with several counts, including organizing mass riots, faces up to 15 years behind bars. Later the Belarusian television broadcast a video with the blogger, in which he was giving a confession. A total of 19 countries, part of the mass media freedom coalition, signed a joint statement, calling on the Belarusian authorities to release Protasevich.
