'They've broken my son's nose': Father of Belarus journalist dragged off Ryanair flight says he looks like he is wearing make-up to hide signs of torture and has teeth missing as the dissident blogger appears on state TV to 'confess' his crimes
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9614183/Ryanair-hijacking-Belarus-journalist-arrested-says-confessing-crimes.html25 May 2021
...Roman's arrest came after his Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was intercepted by a Belarusian fighter jet and diverted to Minsk under the pretense of a Hamas bomb threat against the aircraft.
After touching down in the Belarusian capital, Mr Protasevich and Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega were bundled into an SUV by security agents and driven away.
The video marks the first time that Roman has been seen since that moment, and shows him sitting in a dark hoodie at a wooden desk while telling viewers that he is in good health and is being treated well.
'I continue cooperating with investigators and am confessing to having organised mass unrest in the city of Minsk,' he adds.
But exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was forced to appear in a similar video denouncing pro-democracy protests after Belarus's 2020 election, said the footage was made under 'physical and moral pressure' and that she fears for his life....
