Serious incident: Belarusian fighter intercepted airliner to arrest opponent and infuriated European Union

KIEV.- In an unprecedented action, a Belarusian fighter today intercepted a Ryanair airliner carrying an opposition activist, who was later arrested after it made an unexpected landing in Minsk, sparking anger in Europe..

The middle of the opposition Nexta I affirm that the security services arrested its former editor-in-chief Roman Protasevich after the emergency landing at the airport of the capital of the plane from Athens to Vilnius.

The leaders of the institutions of the European Union (EU) have unanimously asked Minsk to allow “all passengers” to continue their journey after this “totally unacceptable action”.

Several countries of the bloc such as Germany, France and Lithuania denounced the events, which the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, qualified as “state terrorism” and for which he called for “immediate sanctions”.

The United Kingdom, from the mouth of its Chancellor Dominic Raab, has also warned the Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, that he is facing “serious consequences”.

NATO, for its part, has called for an “international investigation” into this “serious and dangerous incident,” said its secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.

The Belarusian Interior Ministry initially confirmed on Telegram the arrest of Protasevich, before suppressing this message, a journalist from the AFP. According to the authorities, the plane was hijacked by a “bomb threat”.

Nexta said the emergency landing was caused by a “fight” launched by Belarusian security officers on board who claimed there was an explosive device on the plane.

Minsk Airport, quoted by the official news agency Belta, claimed that the bomb threat turned out to be “wrong” after a search by Boeing. The Belarusian president personally ordered a MiG-29 fighter jet to intercept the plane after the threat, according to his press service.

According to the newspaper The countryProtasevich, who was in Athens to follow the visit to Greece of Belarusian opponent Svetlana Tijanóvskaya, told a friend before taking off that he noticed a man who spoke Russian was following him through the airport and that he had tried to take pictures of his documents online before getting in from behind.

After the plane landed in Minsk, a passenger reported that Protasevich “panicked”, according to the newspaper. The country. “After the plane suddenly maneuvered, a boy started shaking his head nervously. It was only then that we understood why, ”said the man, who asked to keep his name, from Minsk airport. “They got us off the plane, the dogs sniffed our things. They took the boy aside and he took his things off the podium. We asked him what was going on. He explained and added: “The death penalty awaits me here” “added the passenger, who explained that an officer was guarding Protasevich at all times from the time he got off the plane until he took him away.

At around 5.15 p.m. GMT, European Transport Commissioner Adina Valean assured that the plane had just left for Vilna, but without specifying whether Protasevich was on board.

Lukashenko faced a historic protest movement in 2020 that gathered tens of thousands of people for several weeks in Minsk and other cities in this country of about 9.5 million people.

But the mobilization was running out of steam in the face of mass arrests, police violence that left at least four dead, continued judicial harassment and heavy prison sentences for activists and journalists.

In November, Belarusian security services (KGB) heirs of the Soviet period, included Protasevich, 26 years, and the founder of Nexta, Stepan Putilo, in a list of “Individuals involved in terrorist activities”.

The current editor of Nexta, Tadeusz Giczan, assured that Belarusian KGB agents were on board the aircraft. “When the plane entered Belarusian airspace, KGB agents started a fight with Ryanair staff,” claiming 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, an EU country.

According to images from the specialist site flightradar24, the Boeing was intercepted just before the border with Lithuania, an EU country.

The way Nexta, founded in 2015, played a key role in the recent wave of protests against the 2020 re-election of Lukashenko, in power since 1994, spreading slogans and sharing photos and videos of the protests and repression.

Tijanóvskaya, a Belarusian opponent in exile in Lithuania, immediately condemned Protasevich’s arrest and said the activist faced the “death penalty”. This former Soviet republic is the only country in Europe to apply the death penalty.

The repression of the Belarusian authorities has earned Minsk a battery of Western sanctions which have led Lukashenko to approach his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Agencia AFP

THE NATION

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