The country of Belarus forced a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk, arresting a passenger after the plane landed, CNBC reports. The passenger was activist and journalist Roman Protasevich.
- Belarus — known as an ally to Russia — said it could not force the flight to land. However, the plane’s crew was given recommendations on what they should do, according to Reuters.
Ryanair confirmed to CNBC that the flight spoke with Belarusian air traffic control about a potential security threat on the flight.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry reportedly said the West was overreacting to the news, saying that the incident was being “deliberately politicized.”
- “The haste of openly belligerent statements on the part of a number of countries and European structures is striking. The situation is being directly and clearly aggravated,” according to the ministry’s statement, per CNBC.
Who is journalist Roman Protasevich?
Reuters reports that the journalist worked for NEXTA, which is a Poland-based news network. The news service reportedly showed footage of protests against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on the Telegram messenger app.
- Those protests erupted shortly after a controversial election in the country, according to The Associated Press.
Per Reuters, Protasevich works for a channel called Belamova. Protasevich “is wanted in Belarus on extremism charges and stands accused of organising mass riots and of inciting social hatred, allegations he denies,” according to Reuters.
Did the U.S. respond to the Belarus incident?
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the arrest was a “shocking act.”
- “The United States once again condemns the Lukashenka regime’s ongoing harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists,” Blinken said, according to The Hill. “We stand with the Belarusian people in their aspirations for a free, democratic, and prosperous future and support their call for the regime to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms,” said Blinken.