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Russian national in Belarusian custody fails to meet criteria for pardon, official says

"In particular, the convict wishing to file such an application with the president has not yet served at least half of her sentence, though she had the right to submit an application," Olga Chupris noted

MINSK, January 31. /TASS/. Russian national Sofia Sapega was denied a pardon because she had failed to meet the necessary criteria, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Belarusian Presidential Administration Olga Chupris told reporters on Tuesday.

"The move to reject her application was totally legal because an act of pardon requires certain criteria to be met. She has the right to file an application, like all Belarusian citizens and foreign nationals. There are no exceptions or any bias," Chupris said, as cited by the BelTA news agency.

"In particular, the convict wishing to file such an application with the president has not yet served at least half of her sentence, though she had the right to submit an application," Chupris noted. "The president had the right to pardon her even in this case. If we look at all the criteria, in this case, there were no exceptions that could prompt the president to make such a decision," she added.

Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen, was apprehended at Minsk airport on May 23, 2021, together with Roman Protasevich, one of the founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which the Belarusian authorities deem to be extremist. Sapega was found guilty of deliberate actions aimed at inciting social enmity and discord based on social background, which were committed by a group of people and caused grave consequences, as well as of illicitly collecting and disseminating personal information. The Grodno Regional Court sentenced her to six years in prison on May 6, 2022. Sapega later applied for a pardon. The media also said, citing her lawyer, that a request to hand the convict over to Russia to serve the remainder of her sentence would be filed in the near future.

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