Belarus opposition amount detained after flight diverted
24 May, 2021
A good prominent opponent of Belarus' authoritarian president was arrested Sunday after the airliner in which he was traveling was diverted to the united states after a bomb threat, in what the opposition and Western officials denounced as a hijacking operation by the government.
Raman Pratasevich, who faces charges that could bring 15 years in prison, was first aboard the Ryanair flight from Athens, Greece, to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius when it changed training to mind for Minsk.
“I saw this Belarusian dude with girlfriend sitting right behind us. He freaked out when the pilot stated the plane can be diverted to Minsk. He stated there’s loss of life penalty awaiting him there," passenger Marius Rutkauskas stated after the plane found its way to Vilnius following a long time in the Belarusian capital.
"We sat for one hour immediately after the landing. Then they started releasing travellers and required those two. We didn't see them once again” Rutkauskas said.
Airline flight tracker sites indicated the plane was first about 10 kilometers (six kilometers) from the Lithuanian border when it was diverted. There have been conflicting accounts of the approach.
The press service of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the president himself ordered a MiG-29 fighter plane accompany the airliner after he was informed of the bomb threat. Deputy surroundings drive commander Andrei Gurtsevich said the plane's crew made the decision to land in Minsk.
But Ryanair said found in a statement that Belarusian air site visitors control instructed the plane to divert to the administrative centre.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called the incident a “state-sponsored terror act.” He said that the European Council would discuss the circumstance Monday and that he'd propose banning Belarusian planes from European Union airports and “major sanctions” against Lukashenko's federal government.
“Belarusian airspace is totally unsafe for any commercial airline flight, and it ought to be deemed this not merely by the EU but by the overseas community. Because right now, this instrument could possibly be used for just about any plane crossing Belarusian airspace,” said Lithuania's overseas minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis..
Pratasevich is a co-founder of the Telegram messaging app’s Nexta channel, which Belarus this past year declared just as extremist after it had been used to help organize significant protests against Lukashenko. The protests include dwindled in recent months, but Belarus authorities are continuing to crack down on opposition with arrests.
The Belarus presidential press service said the bomb threat was received as the plane was over Belarusian territory. Officials later on said no explosives had been found on board.
Passengers were taken off the plane in Minsk. Following the plane found its way to Vilnius, Security Minister Arvydas Anusauskas stated Pratasevich's girlfriend and four different persons did not reboard.
“We will see out who will be the other several that didn't travel with the rest. Lithuania has launched an investigation to discover what really took place on that plane,” he said on Facebook.
Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya referred to as on the Foreign Civil Aviation Organization to get started an investigation.
“It is absolutely apparent that this can be an procedure by the special products and services to hijack a great aircraft so that you can detain activist and blogger Raman Pratasevich,” she said in a statement. “Not really a single one who flies over Belarus can be sure of his safety.”
The ICAO soon after said it “is strongly concerned by the apparent forced landing.”
Belarusian authorities said there were 123 passengers in the plane. But Landsbergis, the Lithuanian foreign minister, said there were 171.
Western countries also expressed alarm.
Belarus “showed once again its contempt for international network and its residents,” U.S. Ambassador Julie Fisher explained, calling the event “dangerous and abhorrent.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: “It really is utterly unacceptable to force @Ryanair air travel from Athens to Vilnius to territory in Minsk.”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that "such an act cannot be still left without definite consequences from the side of the European Union” and called for Pratasevich to come to be released.
U.S. Secretary of Condition Antony Blinken named the incident “shocking” and accused Lukashenka’s federal government of endangering the lives of those aboard the aircraft, a number of them People in america. He needed the let go of Pratasevich and for the Council of the International Civil Aviation Business to review the incident.
“Independent mass media are an important pillar supporting the guideline of law and a good vital element of a democratic contemporary society. The United States once more condemns the Lukashenka regime’s ongoing harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists,” Blinken said.
A few months of protests erupted found in Belarus after last August's presidential election that official benefits said gave Lukashenko a good sixth term in business office.
Police cracked down on the protests harshly, detaining around 30,000 people and beating most of them.
Although protests died down through the winter, Belarus has continued to take actions against the opposition and independent press. Last week, 11 staff members of the TUT.by information web page were detained by police.
Source: japantoday.com
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