Roman Protasevich, who is 26-years-old, has been at the centre of the recent Belarus induced forced diversion of a plane. Protasevich was onboard the Lithuania bound plane, which was given the order to land in Minsk over a possible bomb scare.

He was later taken into custody in the Belarusian capital after a Mig-29 fighter jet was deployed to accompany the commercial aircraft, according to US media reports.

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NEXTA, a channel on the social media app Telegram, was founded by the 26-year-old, which later became a popular platform to criticise and organise protests against the Belarus government, led by President Alexander Lukashenko, reported New York Times.

Protasevich was slapped with charges related to inciting social hatred and public disorder in November last year, after fleeing Belarus in fear of being arrested. However, he continued to speak his mind even after leaving the country.

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Protasevich has been in the middle of such situations numerous times. He was expelled from Belarus State University for taking part in a protest rally a decade ago. Moreover, he has often drawn scrutiny from Belarus law enforcement since his teen years, according to reports from New York Times.

Protasevich’s name has been placed on the list of terrorists by the Belarusian security agency called KGB. If convicted on the same ground, he could be facing death penalty. However, the charges put on him in 2020 would are likely to carry a prison sentence of more than 12 years.