schema:articleBody
| - The parents of Roman Protasevich, a Belarusian journalist arrested by the regime in Minsk after the plane he was on was diverted, on Thursday renewed their appeal for assistance in freeing their son. "I want to appeal to you as Roman's mother. I want you to hear my cry, the cry of my soul, so that you can understand how difficult it is for us right now and how we have found ourselves in an absurd situation," Natalia Protasevich told reporters in Warsaw. "I want you to relay our appeal everywhere, throughout the world, to government representatives, to EU countries, to EU leaders, to US leaders: I am appealing, I am begging, help me free my son." Roman's father Dmitry said his son was a "hero". "All through his life, he has fought for truth and he has relayed it to people. That's why (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko has committed this terrible act," he said. A day after the arrest, EU leaders on Monday decided to ban Belarusian carriers from European airspace and airports and recommended that EU carriers should also avoid Belarusian airspace. They have also threatened additional economic sanctions. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told AFP that these could include stopping exports of potash from Belarus and Russian gas transits through the country to Europe -- two important sources of revenue for the Belarusian authorities. bo/dt/mas/kjl
|