MINSK – Belarus forced a Ryanair flight carrying a wanted opposition activist to land in Minsk yesterday, provoking a furious outcry from European leaders who described it as a “hijacking” and an “act of state terrorism”.
Belarusian state television reported that Roman Protasevich, a 26-year-old opposition blogger exiled in Poland, had been detained in the capital after flight FR4978 was diverted from its Athens-to-Vilnius route, ostensibly over a security scare.
After finally landing in Vilnius several hours after the scheduled time of arrival – without Protasevich – some passengers described seeing the blogger looking nervous as the flight was diverted to Belarus.
“He just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty,” Monika Simkiene, a 40-year-old Lithuanian, told AFP.
Edvinas Dimsa, 37, said he “was not screaming, but it was clear that he was very much afraid. It looked like if the window had been open, he would have jumped out of it.”
The European Union is set to discuss toughening its existing sanctions against Belarus – imposed over the crackdown by the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko on opposition protesters – at a pre-planned summit today.
“The outrageous and illegal behaviour of the regime in Belarus will have consequences,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted. “Those responsible for the Ryanair hijacking must be sanctioned. Journalist Roman Protasevich must be released immediately.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denounced Belarus’s actions as “an act of state terrorism”, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a “strong and united response” from the EU.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, said that the United States “strongly condemns” Belarus for the incident and urged for the immediate release of Protasevich.
Lithuania and Latvia have called for international flights not to use Belarusian airspace.
Minsk’s airport had released a statement earlier saying the plane had to make an emergency landing there at 1215 GMT following a bomb scare.
“The plane was checked, no bomb was found and all passengers were sent for another security search,” said Nexta, a Belarus opposition channel on the Telegram messaging app, which Protasevich previously edited.
Lukashenko’s press service said on its own Telegram channel that the president had given the order to divert the flight and had ordered a Mig-29 fighter jet to accompany the plane.
The incident comes as Belarus authorities intensify their crackdown on the opposition following historic protests that gripped the ex-Soviet country after last year’s disputed presidential election. – AFP, May 24, 2021
