MINSK. April 12 (Interfax) - Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, who was convicted in Belarus, has agreed to be extradited to Russia, the Russian embassy in Belarus said on Wednesday.
The two countries' law enforcement agencies are now working on resolving the formalities, the embassy said.
"Our consul visited Sofia Sapega on Monday, April 10 (as soon as the corresponding permit was issued by the Belarusian authorities). During a meeting with the convicted Russian citizen, she gave her consent to be extradited to Russia for possible further imprisonment on the territory of the Russian Federation," the embassy said.
"The next stage, including the technical details of the extradition procedure, is being handled by Russian and Belarusian law enforcement agencies. As for the living conditions in prison and the health of our citizen, she did not make any complaints during her conversation with the consul," the report said.
The embassy said Russian diplomats are continuing to engage with the Belarusian authorities on the situation around Sapega, and remain in contact with her relatives and lawyer.
Sapega was detained on May 23, 2021, as a result of the grounding of a Ryanair plane on which she was returning from a vacation in Greece along with her boyfriend, Belarusian opposition journalist Roman Protasevich. The Belarusian authorities grounded the plane at Minsk airport under the pretext of a bomb threat aboard the plane, following which Sapega and Protasevich were detained.
Protasevich was included in the list of individuals involved in terrorist activities, and has been charged in a case involving riots in Belarus. Sapega edited a Telegram channel on Belarusian defense and security agencies.
Sapega was sentenced to six years in prison in May 2022. She was found guilty of deliberate actions aimed at fanning social enmity and discord that led to grave consequences, as well as the illegal collection and dissemination of information on individuals' private lives that caused harm to the rights, freedoms, and lawful interests of the aggrieved persons.
The court also ordered the defendant to pay the aggrieved persons 167,500 Belarusian rubles (around $65,000). Two hundred and thirty-eight aggrieved persons were involved in the case at the time it reached court.
In June 2022, Sapega submitted a request for pardon to the Belarusian president. In January 2023, it was reported that the Belarusian authorities had declined the request. In March 2023, Sapega was again included in the list of individuals involved in terrorist activities.