A commercial flight was diverted to Belarus after a phony bomb threat that international leaders are calling a ploy to arrest a journalist critical of the country’s president.
A Ryanair flight from Athens, Greece to Lithuania was reportedly escorted by a fighter jet to the Belarus capital of Minsk, where journalist Roman Pratasevich was arrested during a seven-hour grounding.
“I saw this Belarusian guy with girlfriend sitting right behind us,” said passenger Marius Rutkauskas when the plane later arrived at its final destination in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital.
“He freaked out when the pilot said the plane is diverted to Minsk. He said there’s death penalty awaiting him there.”
Pratasevich is the founder of the Nexta channel on the Telegram app, which Belarus has declared extremist after users coordinated protests on Nexta against President Alexander Lukashenko.
“We sat for an hour after the landing,” Rutkauskas said.
“Then they started releasing passengers and took those two. We did not see them again.”
Ryanair was notified of a “potential security threat” by Belarus but “nothing untoward was found” before the plane was cleared to take flight again, the airline said in a statement. Belarus had notified the airline of a bomb threat but no explosives were found, according to the AP.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration is demanding the journalist’s release and calling for an international investigation.
“We strongly condemn the Lukashenka regime’s brazen and shocking act to divert a commercial flight and arrest a journalist,” Blinken said in a statement.
“Independent media are an essential pillar supporting the rule of law and a vital component of a democratic society,” he added.
“The United States once again condemns the Lukashenka regime’s ongoing harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists.”
Lithuania’s government issued a response calling the move an attack on Lithuania and a signal to the European Union and other countries.
“This is the act of state terrorism directed against the security of citizens of the European Union and other countries, civil society of Belarus seeking asylum from the regime’s persecution, as well as international civil aviation,” the statement said.
“The airspace of Belarus is unsafe for everyone,” the statement went on.
“The EU must take effective measures to protect all individuals, regardless of their nationality, who are at risk from inadequate actions of the regime.”
Four other people were taken off the plane in Minsk, Lithuania Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said, the AP reported.
Lukashenko was the declared winner of a sixth term last year, but his win sparked protests in the country. Police detained roughly 30,000 people as a result.
With Post wires