A Ryanair Boeing 737 departing from Athens with 171 passengers on board and bound for Vilnius, Lithuania, was forced to divert to the Belarusian airport of Minsk officially for safety reasons. But once on the ground, the local police picked up a traveler, Roman Protasevich, 26, a Belarusian opponent, journalist and founder of Nexta, the largest Telegram news channel in the country and in the sights of President Alexander Lukashenko for months.
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Confirmation
The Belarusian presidency told news agencies that Lukashenko personally ordered a Mig-29 to escort the Ryanair aircraft to Minsk airport, after a bomb alert received while the plane was on national territory, following which authorities they stated that no explosives were found on the aircraft. The Interior Ministry confirmed that Protasevich was arrested. His Nexta was declared an extremist last year after being used to organize protests against Lukashenko. Protasevich – who fled the country and has resided in Vilnius since November – could face up to 15 years in prison.
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Roman Protasevich, 26, stopped by Belarusian police during a protest in 2017 (photo Sergei Grits / Ap)–
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The reaction
The dynamic prompted Lithuania’s head of state Gitanas Nauseda to urgently demand his release. an unprecedented event – we read on his social profile -. The Belarusian regime behind this abominable action. I urgently ask for the release of Protasevich !. Nauseda also calls for the intervention of NATO and Icao, the UN civil aviation organization. The Ryanair plane diverted just 30 kilometers from the Lithuanian border according to FlightRadar24. The president of the European Parliament David Sassoli is also calling for the immediate release of Protasevich. We need immediate explanations, Sassoli asks on Twitter. absolutely unacceptable to force the Ryanair flight to land in Minsk – comments the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on social media -. All passengers must be able to continue their journey to Vilnius immediately and their safety must be guaranteed. Any violation of the rules of international air transport will have consequences.
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The reconstruction
The Boeing 737 – registered with Buzz brands, the Polish division of the Ryanair group – took off from Athens airport to operate flight FR4978 to Vilnius. Once over Belarus and a few kilometers from the border with Lithuania the plane veered right to land in Minsk, according to what can be seen from the tracks of the platforms that follow flights around the world.
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The accusation
According to Tadeusz Giczan, director of Nexta, agents of the KGB (the Belarusian secret service, ed) boarded in Athens with Protasevich (who noticed people taking pictures of him at the boarding gate). When the plane then entered the airspace of Belarus, the KGB agents started a fight with the Ryanair crew saying that there was an explosive on board. At that point the SOS was launched from the cabin (just a few moments before leaving Belarusian airspace). The Mig-29s flanked the plane and escorted it to Minsk. The security services boarded and arrested Protasevich.
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Ryanair’s note
The crew of the direct flight from Athens to Vilnius was informed of a potential security threat on board by the Belarusian air traffic controllers who gave the order to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk, explains the low cost in a statement. sent to Courier service. The plane landed safely and the passengers were disembarked to allow for security checks by local authorities. Nothing was found on board and the authorities authorized the plane to leave with passengers and staff after about five hours, continues Ryanair. The Boeing leaves at 18 (Italian time) while the low cost has notified the European and national security agencies what happened on board. Ryanair apologizes to passengers for this unpleasant delay out of the company’s control. No mention of the arrested passenger.
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May 23, 2021 (change May 23, 2021 | 18:11)
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