UK has banned its commercial jets from crossing Belarusian airspace

The British government on Monday ordered its country’s airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace and suspended its company Belavia’s flight permit, a day after Minsk hijacked a flight to arrest an opponent.

“Following the forcible hijacking of a Ryanair plane to Minsk yesterday, I asked the Civil Aviation Authority to ask airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace to maintain passenger safety.”Transport Minister Grant Shapps announced on Twitter.

“I have also suspended the operating license of Belavia”added.

Roman Protasevich, 26, former editor-in-chief of influential Belarusian opposition media Nexta, was arrested on Sunday afternoon after the plane made an emergency landing at Minsk airport following a false bomb threat.

The plane, which flew from Greece to Lithuania, both members of the European Union, was then able to resume its flight but without the opposition journalist or his girlfriend, also detained.

“This is a scandalous attack on civil aviation and an attack on international law”, denounced the British Foreign Minister, Dominic Raab, announcing that he had summoned the Belarusian ambassador to London to express his protest.

“We will urgently explore other possibilities with our partners,” he added to the Westminster parliament, referring to possible sanctions.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and 94 other people and entities from his country are already subject to European sanctions for the violent crackdown on protests against his re-election last August, which Europeans considered to be manipulated.

Most Belarusian dissident leaders have been imprisoned, placed under house arrest or are in exile.

(with information from AFP)

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