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.

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.