Putin Cites US ‘Double Standards’ While Criticizing Prosecution of Jan. 6 Protesters

Weeks after the dissident blogger was arrested and detained by Belarusian police authorities, Roman Protasevich appeared on a state television broadcast Thursday praising the nation’s autocratic leader, Alexander Lukashenko, in a drastic change of rhetoric.

In the interview, the journalist retracted his former sentiments and allegations against Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for nearly 30 years.

“I realised that many things Aleksandr Grigoryevich is criticised for are just attempts to pressure him, and that in many moments he acted like … a man with balls of steel,” Protasevich said, according to Matthew Luxmoore, Moscow correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

After months of vocally supporting and advocating for national protests that challenged the country’s autocratic leadership, the journalist said he had organized the “mass unrest” and now regrets leading people to protest.

In addition, despite former statements alleging widespread government abuse and injustice, Protasevich said he “absolutely” respects the nation’s president.

According to some political commentators, Protasevich’s answers repeated and legitimized the government’s line on domestic dissident behavior, leading to the belief that the opposition writer was tortured, coerced or psychologically manipulated.

The interview fell just 10 days after the nation’s president employed a warplane to divert a Ryanair flight to Minsk, the country’s capital, in order to arrest the journalist on May 23.

Days after the incident, the United States and the European Union