Sofia Andreyevna Sapega (; born 10 February 1998) is a Russian student and former

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

who was arrested by Belarusian authorities in May 2021 along with

Roman Protasevich Roman Dmitriyevich Protasevich or Raman Dzmitryevich Pratasevich (born 5 May 1995) is a Belarusian blogger and political activist. He was the editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta and chief editor of the Telegram channel Belarus of the ...

after their flight

Ryanair Flight 4978 Ryanair Flight 4978 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Athens International Airport, Greece, to Vilnius Airport, Lithuania, operated by Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz, a Polish subsidiary of the Irish airline Ryanair. On 23 May ...

was diverted to Minsk due to a false bomb threat. In May 2022, she was sentenced to six years in prison; she was

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

ed one year later.

Early life and education

Sofia Sapega was born on 10 February 1998 in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

, Russia. As a child, she moved to Belarus but retained her Russian citizenship. She studied law at the

European Humanities University European Humanities University ( (ЕГУ/EHU), (EHU), (ЕГУ/EGU)) is a private, non-profit liberal arts university founded in Minsk, Belarus, in 1992. Following its forced closure by the Belarusian authorities in 2004, EHU relocated to Viln ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, Lithuania, and was due to defend her master's thesis before she was arrested. According to the university, she had Russian citizenship and a residence permit in Belarus and Lithuania.

Arrest and trial

Sofia Sapega was on

from

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

to Vilnius along with

, whom she was dating, when the flight was diverted to

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, Belarus, after a false bomb threat was passed on by Belarusian air traffic control. She was remanded in custody for two months. According to the

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; , МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with leading the foreign policy and foreign relations of Russia. It is a continuation of the Ministry of Foreig ...

, Sapega was accused of breaking Belarusian law in August and September 2020; the ministry did not specify which laws she allegedly broke. In a video released by Belarusian authorities, Sapega claimed that she was an editor of the ''Black Book of Belarus'', a

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

channel which had published personal information of security officials that Belarus had classified as an extremist group. Sapega's mother and several of her classmates told

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

that she was not involved in the

2020–2021 Belarusian protests The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests were a series of mass Demonstration (political), political demonstrations and protests against the Government of Belarus, Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The largest anti-government ...

, and had been living in

since August 2020. Sapega's mother was not allowed to visit her daughter in prison. Following her arrest, Belarusian human rights organizations including the

Belarusian Helsinki Committee The Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC; ) is a non-governmental human rights organization established in 1995 and in 2007 was the sole remaining independent human rights group in Belarus, apart from Viasna Human Rights Centre. Its goal is protectio ...

and

Viasna Human Rights Centre The Viasna Human Rights Centre () is a human rights in Belarus, human rights organization based in Minsk, Belarus. The organization aims to provide financial and legal assistance to political prisoners and their families, and was founded in 1996 ...

recognized her as a

and demanded her release. In a 26 May 2021 speech in the

Belarusian parliament The National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus (; ) is the bicameral parliament of Belarus. The two chambers of the National Assembly are: *the Council of the Republic – the upper house *the House of Representatives – the lower house. ...

, President

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

labelled Protasevich and Sapega "agents of Western

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

". On 4 June 2021, the chairman of the Investigative Committee of the

State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus The State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB RB) is the national intelligence agency, and secret police force of Belarus. Along with its counterparts in Transnistria and South Ossetia, it kept the unreformed name after declari ...

(KGB) said that Sofia Sapega was charged with "inciting hatred" and "mass disorder". On 3 December 2021, Sapega was finally charged with "inciting hatred", facing up to six to twelve years of imprisonment. On 6 May 2022, Sapega was sentenced to six years in prison for "inciting social hatred". Her lawyer said that he would appeal directly to Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

because Sapega is a Russian citizen. On 14 March 2023, Sapega was included in the registry of terrorists by the KGB. On 10 April 2023, Sapega agreed to a prison transfer to Russia following her family's request, and after Belarusian authorities did not object provided Sapega finished her sentence in a Russian prison. On 7 June 2023, it was announced that Sapega had been

ed by Lukashenko, reportedly at the request of the Russian governor of

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...

, Oleg Kozhemyako, who led a delegation. After her release, Sapega said that the pardon from Lukashenko was unexpected to her. When questioned about Roman Protasevich and his testimony against her, Sapega said she preferred to "not say anything about this person rotasevichand I just wish him to live his life with dignity".

Personal life

Sapega started dating Roman Protasevich in late 2020. According to Sapega's mother, she and Protasevich had known each other for about six months prior to their arrests in May 2021. Protasevich's relationship with Sapega eventually ended and Protasevich married another woman in May 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapega, Sofia Living people Prisoners and detainees of Belarus Recipients of Belarusian presidential pardons 1998 births Political prisoners according to Viasna Human Rights Centre Political prisoners in Belarus