Lukashenko accused of hijacking a plane. Activist arrested
With the excuse of a bomb scare, which turned out to be false, the plane was hijacked and forced to land in Minsk. The arrested journalist Roman Protasevich is accused of terrorism and incitement to revolt for his articles on the 2020 presidential elections. He risks the death penalty. Doubts about Ryanair's attitude. Polish Premier: "An act of state terrorism".
Vilnius (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The European Union and the United States have accused Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko and his government of hijacking a plane last night to arrest an opposition activist, journalist Roman Protasevich.
Protasevich, 26, was on board a Ryanair plane that had departed from Athens. The aircraft was on its way to Vilnius when Belarusian authorities sent fighter jets to force it to land in Minks. Their justification was an alert that there was a bomb on the plane.
Having landed in the Belarusian capital, an inspection showed that the bomb threat was false. On the other hand, the journalist and a young woman were detained, while the plane resumed its flight and arrived in Vilnius six hours after the scheduled time.
State media claim that the order to send the fighter jets came directly from Lukashenko. After winning the elections last August, the 66-year-old leader has implemented military measures to wipe out the opposition that accuses him of manipulating the elections. Some opposition leaders are in prison, others - such as Svetlana Tikhanovskaya - are in exile in Lithuania.
In a statement, Ryanair refutes all responsibility, saying it received the message of a "potential threat on board" from Belarusian air traffic control and headed to the "nearest" airport, namely Minsk.
In fact, according to flight data, when it diverted, the plane was closer to Vilnius than to Minsk.
In the statement, Ryanair says that "nothing" was found in Minsk, but does not mention Protasevich and his fate at all.
According to some passengers interviewed by Reuters, in flight Protasievich immediately understood what it was and passed his computer and cell phone to a girl who was his companion. Both were arrested.
Protasievich was a journalist at Nexta, an online agency. He left Belarus in 2019 and followed the presidential elections in 2020. After that, he was accused of terrorism and inciting a riot. For some he risks the death penalty.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemned the gesture of the Belarusian government, calling it "an act of state terrorism". Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, said that this "outrageous and illegal behaviour ... will have consequences".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the "shocking act" and stated that the US will coordinate with its partners for new measures.
President Lukashenko and other government figures are already targeted by EU sanctions, imposed after the repression of the opposition.
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