and we don t want to know now. you are america s lapdogs. it s dramas like this one that have cemented mr lukashenko s reputation as euroope s last dictator. in may, he forced a ryanairjet flying from greece to lithuania to land in minsk so he could arrest an opposition blogger. and last week, the death of a belarusian dissident in kyiv prompted more international scrutiny of mr lukashenko s government. he denies any connection to that death. he had this warning to the west. your accusations and your sanctions will end badly for you. you are risking starting world war iii, is that what you are trying to push us and the russians into? what do you want, do you want to win this war? there will be no winners and if there are, it would be not you. continued defiance from the leader who has made his country a pariah in the west.
reporter: sher husband fled belarus into ukraine, a sign of how belarus has treated even the most slightly outspoken critic. really ask yourself. the key ally of belarus is russia. and many analysts possibly feel that moscow sees these extraordinary acts by belarus on the world stage, it seems trying to force olympic athletes home. you remember, too, the forced downing of a ryanair jet a few months ago just to arrest an opposition blogger and think possibly that their alliance with belarus is simply not worth the embarrassment on the international stage. there s another argument that says to some degree russia simply cannot belarus fall in a westerly direction towards the
think this has happened. let s turn now to belarus, where the trial of a prominent opposition blogger has started. this man, sergay tikhanovsky, was running for president against the current leader alexander lukashenka in the election last year. that was until he was arrested in may 2020. his arrest led to protests in belarus this card says freedom for sergei tikhanovsky . he and five other opposition figures are accused of disorder and inciting hatred against officials. he faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. here sjonah fisher with more on the trial. it is under way, it is in a detention centre, and it is being held behind closed doors. there are, we understand, some diplomats and relatives outside the detention centre but because it is, in effect, being held in secret, there is very limited information coming out as to exactly what is going on inside. here s mr tikhanovsky s wife,
the moment roman protasevich s life was turned upside down. the journalist s flight was redirected to minsk airport under the pretence of a bomb threat, before he was led away by belarusian security forces. 12 days on, this belarusian state tv presenter teases his viewers. there was a bomb on the plane, he reveals an information one. he then introduces an allegedly voluntary interview with the jailed 26 year old opposition blogger, whom western countries are demanding belarus releases immediately. we re not broadcasting the interview, which human rights groups say was filmed under psychological duress, and amounts to pure propaganda. during it, roman protasevich questions the financing of an influential opposition social media operation, run mainly from poland, alleges a prominent opposition politician is funded by
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