The fact that Lukashenko lied about the hijacking of the plane to Belarus to arrest an opposition journalist

The pretext of the Belarusian dictator Alexandr Lukashenko to justify the hijacking of the plane in which the journalist Roman Protasevich was traveling is collapsing. The alleged bomb threat against the Ryanair flight, which the Belarusian government used as an argument to force a landing in Minsk, was received after the hijacking of the plane.Swiss-based courier company Proton Technologies said.

The company, which boasts of protecting the data of its users, declined to comment in detail on the email in question and assured that, being encrypted, “Its content cannot be viewed or verified”. “However, we can see when the message was sent and this particular email was sent after the hijacking,” the company said.

Lukashenko drew international criticism when he decided to intercept, using an air force fighter, the Ryanair flight between Athens and Vilnius, in which Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, were arrested after the emergency landing. Belarusian authorities claimed that Minsk airport received an email signed by the Islamist movement Hamas informing that there was a bomb on board and that the message came from a protonmail.com address.

The transcript of the exchanges between the control tower and the aircraft shows that the pilot was informed of the threat at 9:30 a.m. GMT and that a landing one minute later in Minsk was recommended.

According to Belarusian authorities, the e-mail in question ended with the following threat: “We know that participants at the Delphi Economic Forum are returning home on flight FR4978. A bomb was planted on board this plane. If they don’t respond to our demands, he will explode at Vilna’s height. Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest, in Arabic) ”.

The pressure against Lukashenko continues

Days from hijacking of the commercial plane forced to land in Minsk to stop a Protasevich on the orders of the Belarusian President, considered the “last dictator of Europe”, countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada have launched strong warnings and they announced new measures against the regime.

Heiko maas, The German Foreign Minister, warned that Lukashenko will pay “a high price” for the “hideous” hijacking of the Ryanair plane. “Any dictator who plays with these ideas must understand that he will pay a high price,” the German foreign minister told local journalists in Berlin.

“Our goal has always been to strike Lukashenko and his government apparatus with these measures, not the civilian population who are already suffering enough under this regime”added.

Maas has announced that he will discuss the planned measures with other European Union foreign ministers (EU) at the meeting to be held this weekend in Lisbon. In addition, he said the continental bloc “coordinates closely” with the United States.

The German foreign minister described the interception Yes collision landing of the plane as “heinous act“It endangered the lives of more than 170 people: “It was an attack on air safety, press freedom and the European citizens who were on board.”

The UK government, for its part, vetoed this Tuesday ”effective immediately“The entry into its airspace of aircraft of Belarusian airlines without “Specific authorization”. The measure, announced by the British Minister for Transport, Grant shapps, comes after London yesterday withdrew the authorizations to operate on its territory from the Belarusian flag company, Belavia.

(With information from AFP)

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