Dad of Snatched Belarus Journalist Says He Was Forced Into Giving Video Confession
UNDER DURESS
The father of the Belarusian journalist who was snatched from a hijacked commercial flight that was forced to land in the country on Sunday is far from convinced by a video of his son confessing to organizing mass protests in Minsk last year. In the footage released Monday, blogger Roman Protasevich said he was being treated well and added: “I continue cooperating with investigators and am confessing to having organized mass unrest in the city of Minsk.” However, his father said that his son appeared to have been forced into making the video confession, and he looked as if he had been beaten up since he was removed from the hijacked plane over the weekend. According to The Guardian, Dmitry Protasevich said his son seemed “very nervous” in the video and “spoke in a way that was unusual for him.” The father said his son seemed to be missing some of his teeth and went on to say: “It’s clear that he was physically harmed because you can see signs of a beating on his face.” Dmitry Protasevich also said the family has not been told where Roman is being held.