Belarusian dissident who was pulled off forced-down plane says he has been pardoned

By JIM HEINTZ
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The Belarusian state news agency on Monday reported that a dissident journalist who was pulled off a flight that was forced to land in the country and was later sentenced to eight years in prison says he has received a presidential pardon. Raman Pratasevich was quoted as saying by the news agency Belta that “I literally just signed all the relevant documents that I was pardoned. Pratasevich was convicted and sentenced May 3 for organizing unrest and plotting to seize power. He ran a Telegram messaging app channel that was widely used by participants in mass protests against the disputed August 2020 election that gave authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office.