Belarus ‘hijacks’ Ryanair plane to arrest opposition journalist
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko accused of state terrorism as government fighter jet forces Ryanair flight to divert to Minsk.
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has been accused of state terrorism and hijacking after one of his government’s fighter jets forced a commercial Ryanair flight to divert to Minsk on Sunday so that an exiled opposition journalist could be arrested.
The European Union decried the Belarus actions as “utterly unacceptable”, while UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab said he was alarmed and “co-ordinating with our allies”.
Lithuania has demanded an immediate response from NATO.
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg tweeted he was closely monitoring the forcible landing and detention of the journalist, saying it was a serious and dangerous incident which required international investigation.
Closely monitoring forcible landing in #Belarus of flight to Vilnius & reported detention of opposition figure Roman Protasevich. This is a serious & dangerous incident which requires international investigation. Belarus must ensure safe return of crew & all passengers.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) May 23, 2021
The journalist, Raman Pratasevich (also spelt as Roman Protasevich), is the editor of an influential social media site Nexta, which carefully monitors the mass protests and opposition to Mr Lukashenko.
The 26-year-old had been in exile, living in Poland, since 2019 and had been on the flight after reporting on opposition activities in Athens.
Mr Pratasevich had reportedly told a fellow passenger on Sunday: “I am facing the death penalty here” after the Ryanair 737 plane, flying from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania, was instead forced to land in Belarus.
Minsk authorities said the flight was diverted because of a bomb threat and that Mr Lukashenko ordered the military to scramble a MiG-29 fighter to escort the plane.
MiG-29 of the Belarusian Air Force has returned to the airbase in Baranovichi after successfully intercepting Ryanair Athens-Vilnius flight and forcing it to land in Minsk. The plane with 171 passengers on board still hasn't been released. pic.twitter.com/plZK46JMXD
— Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) May 23, 2021
Local media reported that six passengers failed to re-board Ryanair flight 4978, which finally took off for its original destination Lithuania about seven hours after being detained in Minsk.
As well as Mr Pratasevich, his Russian girlfriend Sofia was also detained, with both failing to re-board. Another four passengers, believed to be Russian, also reportedly stayed behind.
Footage from the plane shows that there was no urgency about disembarkation in Minsk, despite the original claim that there was a bomb on board. Passengers are shown leaving one by one as Mr Pratasevich’s belongings were thrown onto the tarmac.
“Unprecedented event!” tweeted Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda. “The regime is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Raman Pratasevich urgently!”
Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the plane had been “hijacked” by Lukashenko, who had carried out a “reprehensible act of state terrorism”. He said he would demand new sanctions against Belarus at a European Council meeting tomorrow.
Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the UK foreign affairs select committee, said: “If aircraft can be forced to the ground … in order to punish the political opponents of tyrants, then journalists here in the UK, politicians anywhere in Europe will find it harder to speak out.”
Mr Pratasevich faces 15 years jail for being involved in Nexta and co-ordinating protest activities. He had been in Athens to report on a Greek visit of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who leads the opposition to Mr Lukashenko following suspect elections last year.
Earlier in the day, Mr Pratasevich had reported to colleagues he had been followed at the airport in Athens by a Russian speaker who tried to photograph his documents as he was checking in.
Nexta colleague Tadeusz Giczan said on Twitter that Belarusian security agency operatives were on the flight with Pratasevich.
“(Belarus) KGB operatives boarded the plane in Athens this morning together with Roman Protasevich (he noticed dodgy-looking ppl taking pics of him at the gate). Then when the plane has entered Belarus airspace KGB officers initiated a fight with the Ryanair crew insisting there’s an IED on-board. Eventually the crew was forced to send out SOS (literally moments before the plane would’ve left Belarus airspace). MiG-29 took off and escorted it to Minsk. Security services entered the plane and arrested Protasevich.’’
A guy sitting next to Roman Protasevich on the plane: "They took us out of the plane, the dogs sniffed our luggage. They took that guy (Roman) aside, threw his belongings on the runway. We asked him what’s going on. He told me who he is and added, “They'll execute me hereâ€(1/2) pic.twitter.com/Nm00NY4YAW
— Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) May 23, 2021
The Belarusian Interior Ministry confirmed that Raman Pratasevich was arrested at the airport.
Mrs Tikhanovskaya called for Mr Pratasevich’s immediate release: “Lukashenko’s regime endangered the lives of passengers on-board the plane. From now – no one flying over Belarus – can be secure. International reaction needed!”
There have been continued protests against Mr Lukashenko after he was elected to a sixth term in office last August amid claims of voter fraud and election rigging.
Belarus military and police have continued to crackdown on dissidents and opposition as well as independent news media sites and journalists.
Ryanair owner Michael O’Leary said on Monday that Belarusian KGB agents were on board the flight.
“It is a case of state-sponsored hijacking,’’ he told Ireland Newstalk radio.”It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his travelling companion.
“We believe there were some (Belarusian security agency) KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well.”
Four Russian passengers failed to reboard the flight when it was allowed to leave Minsk.
European airlines such as AirBaltic, Air Austria and Wizz Air avoided Belarusian air space on Monday and other airlines were considering their routes.
The EU leaders were also considering furthering sanctions against Belarus.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said those responsible for the “Ryanair hijacking must be sanctioned”.
“The outrageous and illegal behaviour of the regime in Belarus will have consequences,” she said.
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