California Man Accused in Capitol Riot Granted Asylum in Belarus

A U.S. citizen wished by the F.B.I. on costs together with assaulting cops on the riot on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been granted asylum in Belarus, state media for the repressive Jap European nation introduced.

Evan Neumann, a former California resident whom prosecutors in Washington have accused of greater than a dozen crimes, together with putting cops and utilizing a steel barricade as a battering ram, left the USA quickly after the riot final yr.

After crossing into Belarus close to the southwestern metropolis of Pinsk final August, Mr. Neumann, 49, formally utilized for asylum, in response to state media. Belarusian authorities confirmed Tuesday that the request had been granted, airing footage on Belta, the state information company, that appeared to point out Mr. Neumann, 49, formally signing an immigration doc.

“Now you’re fully beneath the safety of the Republic of Belarus,” stated an official recognized by Belta as Yuriy Brazinskiy, an immigration official in Brest, the town the place Mr. Neumann resides. The standing was legitimate for “an indefinite time frame,” Mr. Brazinskiy stated.

Mr. Neumann stated he was grateful, however known as the expertise “bittersweet, like consuming cranberries.”

However, he added, “I really feel protected in Belarus, particularly in comparison with my compatriots in America.”

The F.B.I. stated in an e-mail that Mr. Neumann was nonetheless wished however declined to remark additional.

The small Jap European nation has been headed for nearly three many years by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, who has wielded his energy to violently crack down on hundreds of individuals protesting an election in 2020 that many Western nations known as rigged. His foremost political opponent was compelled to flee the nation, and human rights teams have criticized the federal government for its impunity in persecuting journalists and opponents.

Final yr, Mr. Lukashenko ordered the interception of a Ryanair flight over Belarusian airspace carrying a outstanding dissident journalist, an act that some European international locations denounced as a “state hijacking.”

Mr. Neumann, who owns a bag-making firm and had resided in Mill Valley, Calif., in response to prosecutors, stated in earlier interviews with Belarusian state media that buddies had warned him he was on the F.B.I.’s most wished checklist.

In paperwork filed in the USA District Court docket for the District of Columbia, prosecutors stated that physique digicam footage from cops confirmed Mr. Neumann verbally abusing cops.

“I’m prepared to die, are you?” he apparently stated to 1 officer. He additionally used his arms and fists to strike a police officer by a steel barricade earlier than utilizing the barricade as a battering ram aimed toward officers, the paperwork stated. And he resisted orders to depart the Capitol steps, the grievance stated, and used expletives to confer with cops.

Mr. Neumann has denied putting officers, or committing any crimes, and has stated in interviews with Belarusian state media that he traveled to Europe final February on a enterprise journey, passing by a number of European international locations earlier than settling in Ukraine, a rustic he had beforehand visited, for 4 months.

However he felt that the Ukrainian authorities have been monitoring him, he stated, and determined to go to Belarus, which he described as “in opposition to the West.”

He stated his new standing in Belarus meant he was now in a position to journey to different components of the nation, together with the capital, Minsk, however that he would settle in Brest. “I’ve began a life right here,” he stated.