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Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS (flight number FR4978) at Minsk International Airport after being diverted from its Lithuania-bound flightpath. /AFP
A prominent opponent of Belarus's president was arrested on Sunday – after a MiG-29 fighter jet forcibly diverted the Ryanair plane on which he was traveling. Opposition leaders have called the diversion a hijacking by the Belarus authorities and European leaders have condemned the action.
The Belarusian presidential press service said President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet accompany the plane carrying Roman Protasevich — traveling from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania — to the airport in the capital Minsk, citing a bomb threat.
Deputy air force commander Andrei Gurtsevich said the plane's crew made the decision to land in Minsk, but Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda claimed the plane was forced to land there.
"Unprecedented event!," tweeted Nauseda. "A civilian passenger plane flying to Vilnius was forcibly landed in Minsk. [...the Belarusian] regime is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Roman Protasevich urgently!"
Pratasevich is a co-founder of the Telegram messaging app's Nexta channel, which Belarus last year declared as extremist after it was used to help organize major protests against Lukashenko. Pratasevich, who had fled the country for Poland, faces charges that could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
The presidential press service said the bomb threat was received while the plane was over Belarusian territory. Officials later said no explosives were found on board. Flight-tracker sites indicate the plane was about 10 kilometers from the Lithuanian border when it changed course. There was no immediate comment from Ryanair.
Latvia's Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics called Belarus's action "contrary to international law" and called for a "strong and effective" reaction, while Germany demanded an "immediate explanation" from Belarus.
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Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on the International Civil Aviation Organization to begin an investigation.
"It is absolutely obvious that this is an operation by the special services to hijack an aircraft in order to detain activist and blogger Roman Pratasevich," she said in a statement. "Not a single person who flies over Belarus can be sure of his safety."
Months of protests arose after last August's presidential election that official results say gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office. Police cracked down on the protests harshly, detaining around 30,000 people and beating many of them.
Although protests died down during the winter, Belarus has continued to take actions against the opposition and independent news media. Last week, 11 staff members of the TUT.by news website were detained by police.
Source(s): AP
