Family of Roman Protasevich’s girlfriend fear she is facing horrific torture in Belarus dungeon

Sofia Sapega, the girlfriend of Roman Protasevich – the activist who was arrested on board a Ryanair plane – is now locked up in a notorious detention centre.

Sofia Sapega, the girlfriend of journalist Roman Protasevich – who was arrested on board a Ryanair plane travelling from Greece to Lithuania before it was diverted as it passed over Belarusian airspace – is facing horrific torture in a Belarus dungeon, her terrified family say.

Sofia Sapega’s parents are now begging Russian leader Vladimir Putin to intervene to save their daughter who has been locked up in a notorious detention centre in Minsk.

The worried parents fear 23-year-old Sofia, originally from Russia, has been caught up in Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s vendetta against her activist boyfriend, 26, and that she can be compromised with “false allegations”.

The couple had been on holiday in Greece and were en route to Lithuania when their Ryanair plane was forced down in Minsk over a bogus “bomb scare”.

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Sofia girlfriend is facing horrific torture in Belarus.

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“I know that the place where she is held now sadly has a really poor reputation, with accounts of a certain kind about what goes on there,” said her dad, Andrey Sapega, referring to claims of torture by police and KGB on inmates.

“However strong she is, the guy’s now dealing with the destiny of my daughter, they can break anyone.”

Last August freed detainees who were arrested for protesting against Mr Lukashenko gave details of beatings during days in custody with Amnesty International calling it “widespread torture”.

Human Rights Watch reported on victims’ claims of beatings, electric shocks and in one case, rape, in Mr Lukashenko’s torture chambers.

The prisoners had serious injuries including broken bones, skin wounds, cracked teeth, electrical burns and mild traumatic brain injuries.

Some of the detainees had kidney damage.

Sofia pictured with her dad Andrey Sapega.

“I am very, very concerned for Sofia,” her father said.

“Why do the Belorussian authorities need her now? As a way of putting pressure on Roman? I don’t know, but it’s quite likely.”

The businessman and his ex-wife Anna Dudich, who lives in Belarus, have been unable to reach her, as has a lawyer they have appointed.

“We can only guess as there is nothing at all from the Belorussian side.”

Sofia’s mum Anna has written to Mr Putin to call on him to intervene and to the Russian foreign ministry.

“I sent a letter to the President of Russia’s administration asking for help. I don’t know the efficiency of these letters but I have no other options,” she said.

Mr Putin’s spokesman said today that he hoped Sofia would be freed “after all the necessary legal procedures are completed”, but the Minsk authorities hinted at charges relating to involvement in the protests last summer.

“I hope our authorities will clear up the situation and I actually demand not to ruin the life of my daughter, as it is the demolition of my child’s life,” said Anna.

Sofia Sapega, 23, was detained by police on Sunday along with her boyfriend Roman Protasevich.

Sofia’s mum Anna has written to Vladimir Putin to call on him to intervene and to the Russian foreign ministry.

The Belarus authorities said today that she had been detained for 72 hours due to suspicions of crimes in August and September 2020 when protests were rampant against Mr Lukashenko.

A decision will be made on any charges within three days.

On Monday, Protasevich – also known as Raman Pratasevič – appeared on state TV and said he was in good health and acknowledged he played a role in organising mass disturbances last year.

He said on Monday: “I am in Detention Centre No1 in Minsk. I can say that I have no health problems, including with my heart or any other organs.

“The attitude of employees towards me is as correct as possible and according to the law. I continue co-operating with investigators and am confessing to having organised mass unrest in the city of Minsk.”

The comments were immediately dismissed by his allies as made under duress, adding that he was almost certainly being tortured.

“This is how Raman looks under physical and moral pressure. I demand the immediate release of Raman and all political prisoners,” a leader of Belarusian opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, wrote on Twitter.

The bruised legs of men who were released from the Okrestina prison in August.

In the video he appeared to have a small black spot on his forehead.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya told Sky News she feared Protasevich may have been tortured.

An hour after the footage appeared online, European Union leaders agreed to impose sanctions on Belarus.

Meeting in Brussels, the 27 national leaders of the bloc demanded an immediate release of Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia as well as an investigation by the International Organisation for Civilian Aviation into the incident on Sunday.

Earlier today, furious EU chiefs announced the banning of Belarus airlines from flying over the continent’s airspace and from using any of its airports.

The European nations slapped sanctions over its alleged hijacking of the Ryanair flight.

‘Putin’s battle’

In Britain, a Tory MP has claimed Vladimir Putin is exploiting Protasevich’s arrest to wage a new battle against the West.

When asked on BBC Newsnight whether Britain should back the Belarusian opposition, Bob Seely said that supporting the Russian backed country would “play into Putin’s arms”.

“Lukashenko and Minsk is the new frontline against Putin’s battle against the West,” he said.

“The problem is that because Putin has clearly been so aggressive, especially over Ukraine, we have treaded incredibly carefully.”

The Tory MP added that protests held in support of Protasevich were giving fuel to Russian conspiracies that speculated they were a “Western form of warfare to hurt and destroy mother Russia”.

“It seems like we have given the Belarusian democrat forces very, very little support because to do so would play into Putin’s arms,” he said.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission