Belarusian court to hear case of Russia's Sapega in camera

MINSK. March 28 (Interfax) - A court in Grodno, Belarus, is hearing the case of Russian citizen Sofia Sapega in camera, the Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA said.

"The public prosecutor has appealed for hearing the case in camera. The reason is that the personal data of over 230 persons will be referred to in the criminal proceeding. These include judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and others. Another reason is the need to prevent dissemination of extremist information. The defendant did not object to the motion," BelTA said.

"The judges of the Grodno Region Court discussed the motion from the public prosecutor and decided to grant it," the news agency said.

Sapega is a student of European Humanities University in Vilnius, Lithuania. The plane carrying Sapega and Belarusian blogger Roman Protasevich from a vacation in Greece was forced to land in Minsk on March 23, 2021, and Sapega and Protasevich were taken into custody.

Sapega was held in a detention facility belonging to the Belarusian State Security Committee at first and was then placed under house arrest on June 24. Her arrest was extended until December 25 in September.

On December 20, she was indicted under seven articles of the Belarusian Criminal Code, namely, violence or a threat of violence against a law enforcement officer, interference in the activity of a law enforcement officer, violence or a threat of violence against an official in the line of duty or another person performing a public duty, incitement of hate or enmity, illegal treatment of private information and personal data, obstruction of lawful professional activities of a journalist, and threatening a judge or a juror.

Sapega's case was directed to a court at the end of December 2021.

The prosecution service said that Sapega complied with her plea deal and took measures to return income she had earned illegally. She also appealed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for a pardon.