Arrested Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich reportedly hospitalized due to heart problems

The mother of arrested Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich has received unofficial reports that her son was hospitalized due to heart problems, reports the Telegram-based Belarusian news outlet Belamova (Belarus Golovnogo Mozga).

Protasevich, who is a Belamova editor, was arrested at the Minsk National Airport on May 23, after the Belarusian authorities removed him from a Ryanair flight that was forced to land in Belarus.

“Roman Protasevich’s mother reported that, according to unconfirmed information, her son was found in one of Minsk’s hospitals. His condition is critical — [he has] heart problems. Well-wishers informed her about this,” Belamova wrote on May 24.

Protasevich’s mother Natalya confirmed the reports about her son’s hospitalization in conversation with the Warsaw-based free-to-air television channel Belsat. Natalya Protasevich clarified that she received this information from “people in the medical community,” but said she doesn’t know if the reports are true. She also confirmed that her son has heart problems.

“Roman has heart problems, because of which he wasn’t taken into the army. He was once in a pre-heart attack state. [...] If something was done to him there, it could provoke a heart attack.”

Natalya Protasevich added that she doesn't know which hospital her son might be in, since “the information [about his hospitalization] passed from one doctor to another.”

Update. Belarusian police officials have denied the reports that Roman Protasevich was hospitalized. The Interior Ministry says that he’s in custody in Pre-Trial Detention Center No. 1 (SIZO-1) in Minsk and claims that there haven’t been any complaints about the state of his health.