MINSK, June 13. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said Roman Protasevich, a founder of a Telegram channel that Belarus designated as extremist, deserved a pardon because he stayed true to his word and admitted what he did was wrong.

"The guy did everything he promised. Not to avoid prison time. He acknowledged that he did wrong. He wasn’t at the frontline. He didn’t kill anyone," Lukashenko told reporters, when asked about his reasons for pardoning Protasevich and Russian national Sofia Sapega, the BelTA news agency reported.

The president said Protasevich, one of the founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, had been given conditions and he met them.

Lukashenko said that the situation with Sapega was different and that Belarus wanted to extradite the Russian citizen to Russian law enforcement agencies before the trial, but the process took too much time. "Yes, she is guilty, but she is not our citizen. We have enough of our own to deal with. They spent half a year working to get her, but they didn’t. We are not to blame for the red tape," he said. "Would it be morally right: She fell in love with a guy who was then pardoned and released, but she was left to serve out her term?"

According to Lukashenko, when Primorye Region Governor Oleg Kozhemyako arrived in Belarus, it was decided that Sapega be released so that she could return to her homeland. The Belarusian president also rejected blame for pardoning the girl.

"I hear you. I bear in mind your opinion. But trust me, you don’t know everything. I have never been a traitor and will go all the way," he said.

He said there wouldn’t have been any pardons for any other Belarusian opposition members that "done so much harm to the country."

Protasevich was detained in Minsk, along with Russian national Sofia Sapega, on May 23, 2021, after a Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight from Athens had been forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport due to a reported bomb threat. The two were charged with, among other things, organizing activities that violated public order and inciting social hatred.

The Minsk Region Court sentenced Protasevich to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony. It was reported on May 16 that Lukashenko had pardoned him. Sapega was sentenced to six years in prison in May 2022. She filed a plea for a pardon, which was ultimately turned down. Belarusian prosecutors later granted her motion to be transferred to Russia to serve out her sentence. It was reported on June 7 that Lukashenko pardoned Sapega.