Roman Dmitriyevich Protasevich, or
Raman Dzmitryyevich Pratasyevich, is a Belarusian blogger and political activist. He was the editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta and chief editor of the Telegram channel "Belarus of the Brain". Protasevich was arrested by Belarusian authorities after his flight, Ryanair Flight 4978, was diverted to Minsk on the orders of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko on 23 May 2021, because of a false bomb threat passed on by Belarusian air traffic control. On 3 May 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in prison, however, on May 22 it was announced that Protasevich had been pardoned.