Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

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Student At European Humanities University Removed From Plane and Arrested

August 6, 2021

Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen who was on a plane en route from Greece to Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk. It was reported that there was a bomb threat, but instead appears to have been an excuse for the Belarus government to arrest her boyfriend – a dissident journalist. She, too was detained and for the past month has been house arrest. She was charged with causing unrest which carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison. A few days later she appeared in a video providing an allegedly forced confession.

August 4, 2021

Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko
President of the Republic of Belarus
Independence Palace, Parspiekt
Pieramozcau Avenue
Minsk, Republic of Belarus
Fax: +375 17 226 06 10

Dear President Lukashenko:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.

This communication is in regard to Sofia Sapega. On May 23rd, her plane en route to Vilnius from Greece was forced to land in Minsk for an alleged bomb threat, which appears to have been an excuse to arrest her boyfriend, dissident journalist Roman Protasevich. After that, she was detained and since June 23rd, placed under house arrest, for supposedly causing “unrest”, for which she faces up to 12 years in prison. A few days later, she appeared in a forced confession video, stating that she was the editor of the Telegram channel ‘The Black Book of Belarus,’ that allegedly “publishes personal data of employees of the [Ministry of] Internal Affairs”, for which there is no evidence.

Sapega, graduated on July 2nd, in absentia, from the European Humanities University, in Vilnius, Lithuania, with a degree in international and European law. She was unable to defend her master’s thesis given the continued detention.

The Committee is concerned that these charges simply stem from Sapega’s relationship with Protasevich. In fact, her family asserts that she was apolitical. The Committee is also concerned that her confession video may have been produced under duress, especially considering reports that Protasevich had marks of physical violence on his wrists. The house arrest appears to be an attempt by the government to make Sapega unavailable to independent reporters.

We write to urge you to ensure that Sapega is treated fairly, that she is provided with adequate medical treatment, and regular access to family and independent legal representation. We further urge that whatever legal proceedings are held in her case meet international standards for fair trials. If the charges are simply political in origin, she must be released immediately and unconditionally. As a Russian citizen, she should be allowed to leave the country. The unusual nature of her initial detainment has only served to damage reputation of the airline industry in Belarus. Her release would be a positive step toward remedying the situation.

Thank you for your attention to this serious matter. We will be closely following developments in this case.

Sincerely,
signatures
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

Cc:
Antony J. Blinken
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520 USA
Phone: (202) 647-4000
Twitter: @ABlinken

Filed Under: Belarus, CCS Cases Tagged With: Sofia Sapega

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

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Committee of Concerned Scientists

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