Authorities in the authoritarian Republic of Belarus have landed a plane in Minsk en route from Athens to Vilnius (Lithuania), according to state media reports. Also on board was the blogger Roman Protassewitsch, who was internationally sought after by the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, who was arrested in Minsk according to the Wesna Human Rights Center.
Opposition members spoke on Sunday of an unprecedented encroachment on international airspace. The opposition news channel Nexta (pronounced Nechta) also confirmed the arrest of its co-founder and former editor, who had been on board a Ryanair plane.
Ryanair confirms incident
Lukashenko “hijacked” an airplane in violation of all laws, criticized the channel. Nexta asked Ryanair to investigate the incident. Ryanair announced on Sunday evening at the request of the German press agency that they were aware of a diverted plane.
The crew of the flight had been informed by the Belarusian side of a possible security threat on board and instructed to fly to the nearest airport in Minsk. The authorities then approved that after an estimated five hours on the ground, the plane could take off again together with passengers and crew.
Lukashenko is said to have given the command
The authorities in Belarus had classified Nexta as extremist. Last year, the channel had repeatedly called for mass protests against Lukashenko after the controversial presidential election. The blogger Protassewitsch is one of the many opposition activists who have been wanted internationally and whom Lukashenko has declared war himself.
The secret service KGB had put the journalist on a list of people who were accused of participating in terrorist acts, as the portal does.by reported to Telegram. According to the state agency Belta, Lukashenko himself gave the order to land the plane in Minsk after an alarm about an explosive device on board the plane.
Escort of fighter jets
A MiG-29 fighter jet had also climbed up to accompany them, as the airport confirmed. Airport spokesmen announced in state media that the pilots on board the passenger plane had asked for permission to land. Later, the information about the alleged bomb turned out to be a false alarm. The shift supervisor of the airport, Maxim Kijakow, said on state television that the 123 passengers in the trans area were waiting for their onward flight.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called for the immediate release of the activist Protassevich. “This is an unprecedented incident (…) The Belarus regime is behind this hideous action,” he wrote on the short message service Twitter. (SDA)