Belarussian authorities have forced a Ryanair plane to land in Minsk to arrest journalists and critics of President Alexander Lukashenko’s government. The plane was flying on the route from Athens to Vilnius, the authorities claimed that a bomb was said to be on board. Lithuanian President Gitanas Naused, whose plane was headed, condemned the arrest of the Belarusian activist and called for his release.
Information about the departure of the plane with the Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich from the original route was confirmed not only by the server monitoring the air traffic Flightradar24, but also by the press service of the office of President Alexander Lukashenko. Ryanair’s plane was headed from Athens to Vilnius. According to the opposition server Nexta, the Belarusian authorities claimed that they suspected a bomb on board. The presidential press service added that the army sent its MiG-29 fighter to detain the plane.
The Nexta server reminded that Pratasevich has been on the list of people “involved in terrorist activities” since last year. Opposition leader Sviatlana Cichanouska confirmed the name of the detained journalist, saying that he faces the “death penalty” in Belarus. “Raman Pratasevich is a Belarusian journalist, photographer, blogger and activist. He worked as a photographer for the major Belarusian media and was involved in Václav Havel’s journalism program,” Cichanouska wrote. It also called for sanctions to be imposed on Belarus, which could include the exclusion of the country from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
BREAKING! The regime landed @Ryanair plane, which was flying from Athens to Vilnius,in order to arrest the famous Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich. In Belarus, he faces the death penalty. Belarus has seized a plane,put passengers in danger, in order to repress an opponent pic.twitter.com/TEv22to5XM
– Franc Viačorka (@franakviacorka) May 23, 2021
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Lithuanian officials responded to the incident on Sunday afternoon, as 94 Lithuanians were on board the plane out of approximately 170 passengers.
“I call on NATO and EU allies to respond immediately to the threat posed by the Belarussian regime to international civil aviation. The international community must take immediate steps to prevent this from happening again,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who wants to talk about the matter next week. at the EU summit in Brussels.
According to an adviser to Lithuanian President Asta Skaisgiryté, reports of explosives in the plane were false. “Belarusian intelligence knew who was on board the plane and probably planned the event in advance,” Skaisgiryté said. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the incident “state terrorism”.
The release of the detained Belarusian journalist is also being demanded by the Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek.
Belarus has experienced unprecedented mass protests against the regime after last August’s presidential election, with the authorities once again declaring longtime Lukashenko’s head of state. People took to the streets to protest the rigging of the election, but law enforcement forces eventually suppressed the demonstrations, detained tens of thousands of people and imprisoned or emigrated opposition leaders.
On Saturday, the opposition reported the death of a member in prison. He was sentenced to five years in prison for participating in protests, and the cause of his death was a heart attack, according to authorities.
Video: Dramatic demonstrations in Belarus
The incident occurred on a day when Belarusians protested overnight in the metropolis and other cities against Alexander Lukashenko’s inauguration. | Video: Twitter / euroradio.fm, Reuters
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