Journalist Roman Protasevich appears in a tearful interview on state television

Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, who was arrested in Minsk after being taken off a diverted flight last month, has appeared in a tearful interview on state television.

Protasevich admitted to attempting to topple Alexander Lukashenko and said that he was speaking to the television channel by choice. “I criticized Alexander Lukashenk a lot, but when I became more involved in political topics, I began to understand that he was doing the right thing and I certainly respect him,” he said in the 90-minute video. At the end of the interview, he burst into tears and said he hoped one day to marry and have children.

In the interview, he confessed to organizing anti-government protests and praised President Alexander Lukashenko. The reporter, 26, was editor of the opposition Nexta channel on the Telegram messaging app and was put on a list of “individuals involved in terrorist activity” last year. Protasevich’s family said that the interview was conducted under duress.

Mass protests erupted across Belarus after long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory in a 9 August presidential election widely condemned as rigged, and a crackdown followed. The protests have been curbed and opposition leaders have been sent to prison or into exile.

Protasevich admitted to attempting to topple Alexander Lukashenko and said that he was speaking to the television channel by choice. He had criticized President Lukashenko a lot but “began to understand that he was doing the right thing and he certainly respect him. At the end of the interview, he burst into tears and said he hoped one day to marry and have children.

Thursday’s interview was Protasevich’s third appearance on state television since he was detained. The journalist and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were flying back to Lithuania, where they were both living, when their jet was made to land in Minsk over a fake bomb threat.

He faces serious charges. The charge of causing mass unrest can be punished by up to 15 years in jail. But terror offenses carry higher sentences and as he was taken off the plane, passengers quoted him saying “I’ll get the death penalty here”.

Protasevich and Sapega were led away by police and later appeared in videos where they were shown making what appeared to be forced confessions to crimes against the Belarusian authorities. Their arrests prompted the European Union to last month agree on sanctions on Belarus including banning the country’s airlines from using the bloc’s airspace and airports.