Blogger Roman Protasevich

The father of arrested Belarusian opposition blogger Roman Protasevich said Tuesday it was clear his son had been harmed from a video of him "confessing" to charges of organising protests.

Western powers prepared to pile sanctions on Belarus and cut off its aviation links on Monday, furious after it scrambled a warplane to intercept a Ryanair aircraft and arrest a dissident journalist, an act one official denounced as 'state piracy'.

The father of arrested Belarusian opposition blogger Roman Protasevich said Tuesday it was clear his son had been harmed from a video of him "confessing" to charges of organising protests.

Western powers prepared to pile sanctions on Belarus and cut off its aviation links on Monday, furious after it scrambled a warplane to intercept a Ryanair aircraft and arrest a dissident journalist, an act one official denounced as 'state piracy'.