Belarus Brings Charges Against Russian Citizen Arrested During Ryanair Flight Stopover

MINSK (Sputnik) - Preliminary investigation into a criminal case against Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who was arrested in Minsk back in May together with Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, is nearing completion, with charges already brought against her on some counts, Belarusian Investigative Committee said on Wednesday.

"The preliminary investigation in the criminal case against Sofia Sapega is coming to an end, and the final charge has been brought under a number of articles of the criminal code. Among them are incitement of social enmity and discord; violation of information security, regulations on handling personal data; threats against law enforcement officers. In the near future, the case will be available for a review," the investigation's head was quoted as saying by the state-owned Belta news agency.

In addition to Sapega, investigators have been looking into former employees of communications company Beltelecom and other individuals who contributed to illegal activities by posting personal data on illegal Telegram channels, he added.

Sapega was detained along with her partner Protasevich after a Ryanair plane was forced to land in Minsk in May while flying from Athens to Vilnius. The Belarusian authorities accused Sapega of encouraging social hatred and contributing to violations of public order.

In June, both Protasevich, who applied for a pretrial agreement on cooperation with the investigation and gave consistent confession, and Russian national Sapega were moved from custody to house arrest.