Ryanair CEO claimed Belarusian KGB agents were on board hijacked flight to arrest opposition journalist

The director of airline Ryanair said Belarusian secret police were present when a dissident journalist was arrested as the plane was diverted to Minsk.

Roman Protasevich was arrested on Sunday after a Belarusian fighter jet intercepted a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius and diverted it to the capital, Minsk, state television reported. “It appears that the authorities’ intention was to take a journalist and his traveling companion,” Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, told Irish Radio. Newstalk.

“We believe that there were also KGB (Belarusian security agency) agents deployed at the airport.“.

Dublin-based Ryanair is known for its low-cost short-haul flights across the continent. The airline, favored by low-cost tourists, is an unlikely participant in a high-level diplomatic crisis. “I think this is the first time this has happened to a European airline,” O’Leary said.

“It was a state sponsored kidnapping, it was a state sponsored hack“.

In November, the Belarusian KGB, heir to the Soviet period, included Protasevich, 26, and the founder of the opposition media. Nexta, Stepan Putilo, on a list of “persons implicated in terrorist activities”.

Current Nexta editor-in-chief Tadeusz Giczan also claimed Belarusian KGB agents were on board the plane..

“When the plane entered Belarusian airspace, KGB agents started a fight with Ryanair staff“Assuring that there was a bomb on board, according to Giczan.

A spokeswoman for Lithuanian airports told the AFP which received as first explanation by the airport of Minsk a conflict between the passengers and the crew. According to images from the specialist site flightradar24, the Boeing was intercepted just before the border with Lithuania.

The Irish government also blamed Belarus for the hijacking and called for a firm response from Brussels. “We cannot allow this incident to happen on the basis of strong warnings or press releases,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told state broadcaster RTE. “I think the sanctions that are applied as a result of this must be really strong.”

EU leaders will meet later on Monday and are expected to step up sanctions against the Eastern European state.

“It was an Irish airline, a plane registered in Poland, full of European citizens, traveling between two EU capitals,” Coveney said. “It can only be described as air piracy,” he added. “I think the EU needs to give a very clear answer on this, otherwise we are all giving the wrong signals.”

“We demand an immediate international investigation,” Belarusian opposition leader in exile, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, told RTE. “The escalation of violence in Belarus is the result of impunity, so we have to put a lot more pressure on the regime.”

For his part, Protasevich’s friend Franak Viacorka told BBC London radio that there was “no chance of a coincidence … no chance that this plane was transported to Minsk for other reasons. “. Viacorka claimed he was in contact with his friend before leaving Athens and said Protasevich was worried because he was being followed at the airport. “I can’t imagine what’s happening to him right now,” he added.

“His girlfriend was arrested with him. She is a Russian citizen. They took them both on the same flight … they will take revenge, they will punish them both“.

(With information from AFP)

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