The father of a Russian student who was arrested in Belarus from a “hijacked” Ryanair flight has made a personal appeal to dictator Alexander Lukashenko to release his daughter.

Minsk last month forced the landing of a passenger plane that was crossing Belarusian airspace and arrested the exiled opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, along with his 23-year-old Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega. The pair have since been held in custody, despite fierce condemnation from the West.

Mr Protasevich stands accused of organising protests against the Lukashenko regime, and faces up to 15 years in jail if found guilty of inciting “mass disturbances”.

Belarusian authorities have not clarified why Ms Sapega is being held. “I am asking for your mercy,” her father, Andrei Sapega, said in an online video message to Mr Lukashenko.

“Let the cruelty stop, there has already been too much of it in the world. Anyone can see that Sofia was in the wrong place with the wrong person.”

He said he was appealing to Mr Lukashenko “father to father”. Ms Sapega said last week that she was “holding up” in jail, and asked her parents not to “blame Roman”

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]