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Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Politics
Vladislav Davidzon, Amy Mackinnon, Alexander Gabuev

Belarus ‘Hijacking’ Opens New Playbook for Autocrats

Demonstrators carry signs supporting Roman Protasevich, a Belarusian activist detained aboard a Ryanair flight diverted by Belarusian authorities, in Warsaw, Poland on May 24. Wojtek Radwanski / AFP via Getty Images

Nine months after his native Belarus erupted in protests over rigged presidential elections, 26-year-old Roman Protasevich had just taken a vacation in Greece with his girlfriend. Protasevich is the founder and former editor of the Nexta channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, which played a decisive role in coordinating protests last fall that drew hundreds of thousands of people out into the streets. 

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