Russian national Sofia Sapega sentenced to six years in prison in Belarus
A court in Belarus’ Grodno has sentenced Russian national Sofia Sapega to six years in prison for “inciting hatred,” journalist Lyudmila Gladkaya reports from court.
The Belarusian law enforcement arrested Sofia Sapega alongside her boyfriend, Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, in May 2021, after their Ryanair flight was forced to land in Minsk.
Sofia Sapega
The prosecution accused Sapega of running a Telegram channel called The Black Book of Belarus. This channel published information about Belarusian law enforcement officers accused of torturing protesters.
Sapega could have faced 12 years behind bars for “inciting hatred” according to the Belarusian Criminal Code. A plea deal was arranged, according to which she agreed to give evidence, testify against other suspects and reimburse the money that she allegedly got for moderating the Telegram channel.
There were no alternatives to this sentence, because a plea deal was arranged. So we couldn’t expect a milder sentence, only six years in prison according to the plea deal.
There are two options where Sofia can be released earlier. The first one is appealing for a pardon of the Belarusian President after her sentence enters into force. Then he can pardon her and cancel her sentence. If this fails, the second option is initiating the extradition procedure to Russia, where the Russian president may pardon her. Before she is transferred to a Russian prison, her sentence should be recalculated according to the Russian Criminal Code. In Russia, Sapega may appeal for parole, or ask to reduce her sentence. But this is for a Russian court to decide.
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said that the Belarusian president can decide whether to pardon Sapega or to extradite her to Russia. We have the same opinion. The possibility of an early release is high. We hope that it will happen, because six years in a Belarusian prison are too much. The article is considered “extremist,” so Sapega will be in stricter prison conditions, almost like those serving life. They will punish her for every violation that could have been ignored and change her living conditions. Right now, she will wait for the sentence to be appealed in court.
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