Belarus Detains Journalist After Forcing Plane To Land

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent

(Worthy News) – European leaders have condemned Belarusian authorities after a passenger plane traveling between two European capitals was forced to land, and a prominent opposition journalist was detained.

Authorities ordered the Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania to divert to the Belarusian capital Minsk after a purported bomb threat. The Belarusian opposition said it was a pretext to arrest journalist Roman Protasevich.

The flight was headed to Vilnius, Lithuania, where the 26-year-old lived in exile when a MiG-29 fighter plane escorted it to Minsk.

Airport officials said that a bomb was not found on the plane, which had 171 passengers.

However, by then, Protasevich, an opposition journalist who ran the popular social media Telegram channel Nexta, was taken off the aircraft by security forces.

Protasevich faces more than 12 years in prison after he and the creator of Nexta, exposed Belarusian police brutality during anti-government demonstrations last year. They were added to a list of individuals purportedly involved in terrorist activities. Nexta and its sister channel, Nexta Live, have close to 2 million subscribers.

Protasevich already warned on his Telegram channel earlier Sunday before departing Greece that he sensed he was under surveillance.

GREECE, LITHUANIA FURIOUS

Leaders of the flight’s departure and destination nations, Greece and Lithuania, were among the first to condemn his detention.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the events were “unprecedented and shocking.” “We demand all passengers’ immediate release. Tomorrow’s [European Union gathering] must address the need to step up pressure on Belarus. Enough is enough,” Mitsoatakis added in a statement.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda condemned the incident as “abhorrent” and urged intervention from the European Union and NATO military alliance.

“@Unprecedented event! A civilian passenger plane flying to Vilnius was forcibly landed in Minsk,” President Nauseda wrote on social networking site Twitter. “[Belarus] regime is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Roman Protasevic urgently!”

He also demanded action from the Brussels and NATO to resolve the issue. “I call on NATO and EU allies to immediately react to the threat posed to international civil aviation by the Belarus regime. The international community must take immediate steps that this does not repeat,” Nauseda said in a statement.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemned the “hijacking of a civilian plane” to detain a journalist an “unprecedented act of state terrorism” and urged new sanctions against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The German Foreign Ministry also demanded that Belarus explain the diversion of a Lithuania-bound flight and the detention of the journalist onboard.

IMMEDIATE EXPLANATION

“We need an immediate explanation by the government of Belarus on the diversion of a Ryanair flight within the EU to Minsk and the alleged detention of a journalist,” the German Foreign Ministry’s state secretary Miguel Berger said.

French Foreign Affairs Minister stressed that the incident was “unacceptable” and called for a “firm and united response.”

European Union officials warned Belarus that it would be held responsible for the fate of the diverted flight, calling for all passengers to be released.

“We hold the government of Belarus responsible for the security of all passengers and the aircraft,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted.

“ALL passengers must be able to continue their travel immediately,” he said, appearing to implicitly be demanding Protasevich’s release.

INVESTIGATION URGED

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed this message. “ALL passengers must be able to continue their travel to Vilnius immediately, and their safety ensured,” she said in a separate tweet. “Any violation of international air transport rules must bear consequences,” she warned.

European Council President Charles Michel, who is set to host a summit of 27 EU national leaders on Monday, said it was “essential” that the International Civil Aviation Organization investigate.

Irish airline Ryanair confirmed the incident and said it had been alerted to a security threat by Belarusian authorities. “Nothing untoward was found,” it said.

“Ryanair has notified the relevant national and European safety and security agencies, and we apologize sincerely to all affected passengers for this regrettable delay, which was outside Ryanair’s control,” the company said.

It comes amid s broader crackdown on media, including the recent detention of a correspondent of Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle and other reporters.

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