Form Letter to Respond to Belarusian Crimes / Hijacking of Flight 4978
Tell your congressmember that the US should require the release of Roman Protasevitch and Sofia Sapega.
Dear[Senator/Representative _____],
As a constituent, I wanted to express a request for you to introduce or support legislation or other actions to vigorously push back (concretely, not just rhetorically) against Belarusian autocracy and authoritarianism: especially against violations of human rights, atrocities against their citizens, attacks against journalists, and most recently the hijacking of Ryanair flight 4978.
In particular, the US should require the release of Roman Protasevitch and Sofia Sapega.
The actions of the Belarusian government should be hateful to all Americans as a gross assault on basic human rights. However, if a pragmatic reason for action is required, lack of action on the part of the US will embolden other malign regimes. Russian criminal attacks (notably carried out by Unit 29155) have escalated in recent years, and Russian media outlets have expressed support and admiration for Lukashenko's brazen actions. If the US does not take an active stance today against such actions committed by such minor regimes as Belarus, we will find ourselves facing increasingly offensive actions from our peer/near-peer adversaries, and with weakened alliances among democracy-loving populations.
While taking action against Belarus will be costly, in a time where the US is already facing strained European alliances and growing authoritarianism around the globe, we cannot afford to be passive.
Respectfully,
[Your Name]