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Belarus Scrambles MiG-29 to Divert Ryanair Flight to Arrest Opposition Leader
A Ryanair plane flying from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Belarus, with the country's opposition figures saying it was done so dissident journalist Roman Protasevich could be arrested. Flight FR4978 was en route from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday when it turned east to Belarus's capital Minsk shortly before it reached the Lithuania border. In a statement, Ryanair said the crew were "notified by Belarus Air Traffic Control of a potential security threat on board and were… (www.bbc.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I heard comment that the aircraft was actually closer to Vilnius when intercepted and so if this was in the name of “safety” then the aircraft should have continued to its destination. Therefore what happened was clearly an act of state sponsored (and organized) terrorism and harsh sanctions definitely need to be applied to Belarus.
The UN, US, EU, UK, ICAO, and NATO need to extract this political prisoner before they are executed, and swiftly enact strict sanctions on Belarus. This is an act of air piracy and terrorism, and cannot be tolerated.
What is UN going to do? NOthing the 5 biggest offenders have all a VETO right. My bet is that Russia will interfere.
Right on -- agree 100%
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Once the plane landed, Belarusian security agents arrested Raman Pratasevich, who ran a popular messaging app that helped organize mass demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus’ authoritarian leader. They also removed from the plane Pratasevich's Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, who studies at a Vilnius university.