Russian Consul Obtained Sofya Sapega's Consent To Extradite Her To Russia

At the moment, the technical details of the procedure are being coordinated.

Press secretary of the Russian embassy in Minsk Aleksey Maskalev said that the Russian consul had obtained consent from Russian political prisoner Sofya Sapega to extradite her to Russia, zerkalo.io reports citing Russian media.

“During a meeting with a convicted Russian citizen, consent was obtained from her for extradition to Russia for a possible serving of further punishment already on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Maskalev said.

He clarified that the matter, including the technical details of the extradition procedure, is being handled by the law enforcement agencies of Belarus and Russia.

Sofya Sapega was detained on May 23, 2021, together with the former editor-in-chief of the NEXTA Telegram channel Raman Pratasevich, at the Minsk airport after the Belarusian authorities landed a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius. The woman was accused of administering the Black Book of Belarus Telegram channel, which publishes the personal data of the security officers.

The trial of Sapega began on March 28, 2022 and was held behind closed doors. She was charged under seven articles, but found guilty under two, namely, Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code (commission of intentional actions aimed at inciting other social enmity, discord on the basis of a different social affiliation, committed by an organized group of persons that entailed other grave consequences), as well as Part 1 of Article 179 of the Criminal Code (Illegal collection or dissemination of information about private life constituting a personal or family secret of another person, without their consent, resulting in harm to the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the victims).

Sapega was sentenced to six years in a penal colony. She was denied pardon. In April 2023, it became known that Sofya Sapega might be sent to serve her sentence in Russia. Now the family is waiting for a trial in the Russian Federation, which should establish the period that the political prisoner will have to serve in her native country. After that, her transfer from Belarus will become technically possible.