“The outrageous and illegal behaviour of the regime in Belarus will have consequences. Michal Fludra/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesĮurope and the US dismiss the Belarus government’s explanationĮuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that it was “utterly unacceptable to force flight from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk.” Raman Pratasevich was detained in Minsk onboard a Ryanair plane that made an emergency landing in the Belarusian capital. Had there been a bomb on board, to prolong the flight would have been a perverse decision. One reason for skepticism toward the Belarusian authorities’ version: When it changed course, the Ryanair Boeing 737 – with 171 people on board - was much closer to its destination than it was to Minsk. Nothing untoward was found, according to Ryanair. The Belarus version of events has been met with widespread disbelief and condemnation among the international community, despite an elaborate show of fire trucks when the plane landed, as well as extensive baggage checks. Gurtsevich said a Belarus Air Force MiG29 jet was dispatched to monitor the flight and “assist” if necessary. The Deputy Commander of Air Defense Forces, Major-General Andrey Gurtsevich, claimed that after the Ryanair crew were told of a “possible bomb on board,” it was the captain who “made a decision to land at the reserve airfield (Minsk-2).” That’s not how the Belarus authorities characterized the incident. Ryanair says that its crew was “notified by Belarus ATC of a potential security threat on board and were instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk.” Just why the plane suddenly changed course depends on whose account one believes. He is the founder of the Telegram channel Nexta, which helped mobilize anti-Lukashenko protests, and was charged last year with “organizing mass riots and group actions that grossly violate public order.” He is on a government wanted list for terrorism. Pratasevich is one of dozens of journalists and activists campaigning in exile against Lukashenko’s 26-year rule. The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has been fending off opposition protests since claiming victory last year after a hotly-disputed election widely condemned by the international community. As soon as the plane landed, he was arrested, according to the Belarus Interior Ministry. For him the diversion was much more than an inconvenience. One of the passengers on board the Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was Belarus opposition activist Raman Pratasevich, who is wanted on a variety of charges. Some governments have described the incident as a state-sanctioned hijacking. Whether that security alert was a fabrication by the Belarus authorities is now at the heart of an incident which has sparked widespread international condemnation and raised serious questions about safety in the skies. Ryanair flight 4978 was about to begin its descent to Vilnius in Lithuania on Sunday when it suddenly changed direction after a “security alert,” turning sharply east and descending towards the capital of Belarus, Minsk.
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