Roman Protasevich

The Russian girlfriend of a Belarusian dissident arrested with him when their plane was forced to land in Minsk was on Friday sentenced to six years in prison, a rights group said.

Belarus has moved Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who was arrested with her journalist boyfriend Roman Protasevich on May 23 after the grounding of a Ryanair plane in Minsk, from a detention facility to house arrest, the BBC Russian service reported.

Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, who was arrested after his plane was forced to land in Minsk, appeared on state television Thursday in a tearful interview that family and campaigners say was conducted under duress.

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'.

A Belarusian university in Vilnius on Monday said its student Sofia Sapega, 23, who was travelling with journalist Roman Protasevich, had also been detained when their flight was diverted there from Vilnius and demanded her release.

The Russian girlfriend of a Belarusian dissident arrested with him when their plane was forced to land in Minsk was on Friday sentenced to six years in prison, a rights group said.

Belarus has moved Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who was arrested with her journalist boyfriend Roman Protasevich on May 23 after the grounding of a Ryanair plane in Minsk, from a detention facility to house arrest, the BBC Russian service reported.

Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, who was arrested after his plane was forced to land in Minsk, appeared on state television Thursday in a tearful interview that family and campaigners say was conducted under duress.

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'.

A Belarusian university in Vilnius on Monday said its student Sofia Sapega, 23, who was travelling with journalist Roman Protasevich, had also been detained when their flight was diverted there from Vilnius and demanded her release.