OREANDA-NEWS. Former co-chairman of the «Union-90/Green» party, head of the parliamentary committee on transport and digital infrastructure Cem Ozdemir took patronage of the Belarusian journalist and blogger Roman Protasevich, who was detained at the Minsk airport. This was announced on Monday, May 31, by the German-Swiss non-governmental organization «Libereco — Partnership for Human Rights», which has been engaged in the protection of human rights in Belarus for more than a decade and initiated a campaign of patronage of Belarusian political prisoners by members of the Bundestag.

«Dictator Alexander Lukashenko is forced to be afraid of his own people and to retain power through violence against the democratic movement in his own country. The kidnapping and taking of Roman Protasevich as a political hostage is an act of state terrorism and an attack on our European values», Ozdemir said.

He called «extremely disturbing» the published video, in which Protasevich, apparently, after the torture, makes a confession. It «shows that Lukashenko does not care about human rights and freedom of the media», said one of the leaders of the German «greens».

At the same time, Ozdemir welcomed the introduction of EU sanctions in response to the hijacking of the plane and the detention of Protasevich and his girlfriend. He also called on the German government to make more vigorous efforts for their release, as well as for the release of other political prisoners in Belarus.