According to the human rights center Vesna, Irina Vikholm was arrested after publishing a tweet linking to her LiveJournal blog, on which she reprinted a BBC report about the detention of Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protasevich in Minsk.
"Another crime of Lukashenko: an act of state air piracy," the offending tweet said, alongside a photo of the president. According to the authorities, this is "slanderous information," which has a maximum penalty of five years.
Comment: Someone might wish to tell Lukashenko that thin skin is not a good look. Just make sure not to do it on LiveJournal.
Vesna also reported that Vikholm pleaded not guilty, and during the trial stated that the case was "clearly politically motivated."
The Russian woman, who has lived in Belarus for almost a decade, was arrested in May. Her detention was relayed to Moscow earlier this month, and the Consulate General in Brest met with her in pre-trial prison.
Vikholm's tweet came shortly after the infamous forced grounding of a Ryanair flight passing through Belarusian airspace, which was dubbed by the airline's CEO as "state-sponsored hijacking."
On May 23, a plane flying from Athens to Vilnius was grounded at Minsk Airport following a fake bomb threat. The aircraft was carrying opposition activist Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega. As soon as the plane landed in the capital, they were immediately arrested.
According to Lukashenko, the bomb threat came from Switzerland via Proton Mail. However, the email provider later claimed that the warning was sent via email after the plane had already diverted, contradicting Belarusian authorities.
Following the incident, the European Union and the US imposed packages of economic sanctions against Minsk.
Reader Comments
OW Holmesoops, CJ Marshall who said/repeated 'The power to tax is the power to destroy", so what else is that?Also, in Germany, they long ago kidnapped an American, stole him into Canada where he was then extradited to Germany (using a law that was subsequently invalidated ab initio by the Canadian SC) and the poor SOB did years in prison there as did his attorney (all as I recall.)
For these idiot proles, 'freedom' is what they're told it is, and that's doing what they're told.
R.C.
In English, "Freedom is realizing the necessity".
I n accordance with Orwell, since personal "freedom" is slavery ...
RC
evenbecause their parents didn't, I wonder if they ever had a chance. They didn't grow up being told 'you're all gonna die from a commie horde but only after they've leveled this place.with nukes.' Meanwhile, my/our generation did, but reality was allowed - inescapably - to insinuate itself into the midst. These poor SOB's never had a chance.I'm damn glad I wasn't born among them. I do pity this generation and that applies across the entire globe.
RC.
I have been watching the degradation of school "education" for years now, though first- and second-hand experience (two teenage kids). And the shift from individual performance and ambitions to groupthink, subordination, and rote learning is more than obvious.