Belarusian state news outlet Belta reported Monday that journalist and former opposition figure Roman Protasevich was pardoned by President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko weeks after being sentenced to eight years in prison. 

Protasevich was arrested in 2021 after Ryanair flight FR4978, carrying Protasevich and fellow activist Sofia Sapega, was forced to divert to Minsk after the President allegedly was given information that there were explosives on board the flight, an explanation that nations like Poland and Lithuania have rejected.

Protasevich was later put on the Belarusian government’s list of terrorists and was later convicted of crimes such as “making public appeals for seizing power, committing acts of terrorism, slandering the president [and] spreading knowingly fraudulent information about Belarus.”

Belta quotes Protasevich’s response disavowing his past opposition views: 

I would like to thank President [Lukashenko] personally because this is his decision. This is a bold move, a decision of a strong-willed person. I want to thank the country and the people who believed in me, in my sincerity, who think that people can mend their ways and admit their mistakes… I don’t read what they write about me. I unsubscribed from all possible information resources a long time ago. I mean pro-Western, opposition one because they recycle stuff about me. I’m not interested in what’s going on there, what they’re saying. I am focused the positive agenda. I will devote maximum time to my family.

Protasevich was a part of Nexta, a Belarusian “media project on social and political topics” that aims to “destroy myths of state propaganda and use concrete examples to show the harsh reality of life in Belarus.” Nexta has been deemed a terrorist organization by Belarusian authorities. The outlet gained popularity after reporting on the 2020 protests against the re-election of President Lukashenko. 

Fellow activist Sofia Sapega who was arrested at the same time has not been pardoned.