Sergei Grits/AP toggle caption Sergei Grits/AP Belarusian police detain journalist Roman Protasevich (center) in Minsk, Belarus, on March 26, 2017. On Sunday, Protasevich was arrested after his international flight was diverted to Belarus. Sergei Grits/AP The brazen arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich by the Belarusian government, in which it forced the plane he was aboard to land in Minsk, has sent a chill down the spine of the international community. Protasevich, the former editor and founder of Nexta, an anti-regime blog and social media channel, has been instrumental in leading protests against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. The unprecedented steps taken by Belarus to capture a fugitive dissident have broad implications. Political leaders, human rights advocates and international law experts are calling Protasevich's detainment tantamount to an act of state terrorism.