OREANDA-NEWS. Russian woman Sofia Sapega detained in Minsk may be charged under Article 130 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, the sanction of which provides for up to 12 years in prison. This was reported by Sputnik Belarus with reference to a source in the Belarusian power structures.

An informed source in the power structures told Sputnik: “The point is that she was detained within the framework of Part 3 of Art. 130 “Incitement of racial, national, religious or other social enmity or hatred of the Criminal Code of Belarus ”.

As the agency notes, the sanction of the article provides for up to 12 years in prison. The girl is expected to meet with her lawyer today.

The Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius on May 23 urgently landed at the Minsk airport due to a message about mining, which was not subsequently confirmed. This plane was flown by Roman Protasevich, the founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, recognized as extremist in Belarus. He was detained while checking documents in previously initiated criminal cases against him. The EU countries said that Minsk forced the plane to land at its airport under an invented pretext, in protest against the detention of Protasevich, they banned Belarusian airlines from flying over their territory and are considering the possibility of introducing additional sanctions against Minsk.

Russian citizen Sofia Sapega was detained together with Protasevich. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, she is suspected of committing crimes in August-September 2020 under several articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus.

Belarus responded by saying that the message about the mining of the plane had been sent to the e-mail of the Minsk airport. The commander of the crew himself decided to land in Minsk, there can be no question of any coercion or turn of the aircraft, said the commander of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Forces Igor Golub. Belarus is ready to provide dispatchers' records to prove its case. However, as reported by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, so far no European country has expressed a desire to get acquainted with them.