Belarus forces plane to land, arrests critic

The U.S. and Europe reacted with outrage after Belarus ordered a Ryanair flight transiting its airspace to land and arrested a journalist on board, an unprecedented violation of European air travel protocols. According to information, Belarusian state television reported that Roman Protasevich, a 26-year-old dissident journalist exiled in Poland, had been detained in the capital Minsk after flight FR4978 was diverted from its Athens-to-Vilnius route, ostensibly over a security scare. A Ryanair spokeswoman said that in Minsk, authorities arrested a journalist who covered protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, whose election to a sixth term last year was internationally disputed. Authorities boarded the plane and arrested Pratasevich, the former editor-in-chief of one the most popular Telegram news channels in Belarus. Pratasevich wasn’t on the plane when it was allowed to take off again for Vilnius, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said in a recorded statement.

“The United States strongly condemns the forced diversion of a flight between two EU member states and the subsequent removal and arrest of journalist Roman Pratasevich,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.“Initial reports suggesting the involvement of the Belarusian security services and the use of Belarusian military aircraft to escort the plane are deeply concerning and require full investigation.” 

"The outrageous and illegal behaviour of the regime in Belarus will have consequences," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted, calling for Protasevich's release, and adding that those responsible "must be sanctioned".   Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denounced Belarus's actions as "an act of state terrorism", while French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a "strong and united response" from the EU. The International Civil Aviation Organization -- the UN's civil aviation agency -- said the forced landing "could be in contravention of the Chicago Convention", which protects nations' airspace sovereignty. “This is a serious and dangerous incident, which requires international investigation,” NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said on Twitter.

Minsk's airport had released a statement earlier saying the plane had to make an emergency landing there at 1215 GMT following a bomb scare."The plane was checked, no bomb was found and all passengers were sent for another security search," said Nexta, a Belarus opposition channel on the Telegram messaging app, which Protasevich previously edited. Lukashenko's press service said on its own Telegram channel the president had given the order to divert the flight and had ordered a Mig-29 fighter jet to accompany the plane.