Lukashenko strength the diversion of a commercial flight to stop a journalist critical of the regime
The Belarusan authorities have arrested this Sunday at the Minsk airport to the journalist Roman Protasevich, pursued by the Aleksandr Lukashenko regime, after the plane where he was traveling, he was forced to land emergency in the Belarusian capital.The Ryanair aircraft, which was flying on the country en route to Lithuania from Greece, received the notification of the bellruse authorities of a "potential security threat" on board, according to the Irish airline.The plane, a Boeing 737-800, was escorted to the ground by a fighting hunting in direct order of the Belarusian, according to Lukashenko's press service.At Minsk airport, Belarusian special services assured that they had not found explosives in the device.The unheard of incident and the arrest of the outstanding critical blogger with the regime has caused international outrage.
The opposition leader Svetlana Tijanóvskaya has denounced the "kidnapping" of the informant and the aircraft, in which 170 passengers of 12 nationalities flew, which have awaited in Minsk for almost seven hours before resume the trip to Vilna, the Lithuanian capital, leaving behind Protasevich and his girlfriend, who could also be detained, according to the opposition.Nor continued the trip four Russian citizens who had started the road in Greece, according to Lithuanas Fuentes.In a hard message on Twitter, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who also spoke of "kidnapping" has defined as "unacceptable" what happened and has warned Belarus that her behavior "scandalous and illegal" will have "will" have " impact".NATO has requested an investigation of the “serious and dangerous incident” on a flight from a European airline (Ryanair is Irish) that covered the journey between two EU capitals: Athens and Vilna.
Protasevich, 26, was a director and one of the founders of Nexta and Nexta Live, two known and influential Telegram channels (with more than 1.2 million and 2 million subscribers) based in Poland very followed by the opposition andCivil society during protests for democracy and against Lukashenko last summer in Belarus, which have been labeled as "extremists".The journalist and activist, who lived in exile in Lithuania since 2019, where he has been granted political asylum, is accused of "organization of disturbances and collective actions that seriously violate public order" and "commit deliberate actions aimed at inciting thesocial enmity ”;Crimes that can carry up to 15 years in prison.Belaruse secret services (KGB, Belarus is the only country that retains the old Soviet name of the agency) included last November in the list of people involved in terrorist activities.
The reporter, who was now part of another telegram post, Belamova, was arrested when landing in Minsk, as confirmed by the Department against Organized Crime of the Ministry of Interior in his official Telegram channel in a publication that deleted a few minutes later.Then he has avoided making new comments on the case.The Association of Belarusian journalists and the local human rights organization Viasna have confirmed the arrest of the informant, but they have not been able to contact him, they explain in a note.Prostaevich, who was in Athens to continue the visit to Greece by Svetlana Tijanóvskaya, had told a friend before taking off that he noticed how a man who spoke Russian was following him at the airport and who had tried to even take pictures of his documents in the tailTo embark.
As soon as the Belarusian capital is landed and becoming aware of what happened, Prastevich "panic", according to one of the passengers to the Lithuanian edition of the Delphi newspaper.“After the sudden maneuver of the plane, a boy began to shake his nerve head.Only later we understood why, ”said the man, who has asked his name not to be published, from Minsk airport.Already in Vilna, when he arrived after seven hours of waiting, stress and terror, a passenger has explained to local media that as soon as he lands in Minsk, the blogger began to stir his hand luggage and delivered his mobile and laptop to a laptop to agirl who was traveling with him and who has later been identified as his girlfriend.Edvinas Dimsa, another passengers on the diverted flight, told France Presse in Vilna that the activist and journalist seemed to know what he faced when they landed in Belarusian.“I didn't shout, but it was clear that I was very afraid.It seemed that if the window had been open, I would have jumped, ”he said.
Únete a EL PAÍS para seguir toda la actualidad y leer sin límites.SuscríbeteThe rest of the Telegram channel team that manages protavich - in Belarus, with the closure and repression of independent media this platform has become even more popular for civil society - has reported that they revoke the authorization of the blogger to access theChannel immediately after knowing your arrest, to ensure that the data of your almost 300.000 Subscribers did not fall into the hands of the Before Safety Forces."They took us out of the plane, dogs sniff our things.They took the boy aside and withdrew their things on the catwalk.We ask what was happening.He explained and added: ‘The death penalty awaits me here,” added another traveler of the same flight to Delfi, who explained that an officer guarded Protasevich at all times since he got off the plane until he took it.
The International Organization for Civil Aviation (ICAO), from the UN, has been extremely concerned about the incident with Ryanair Fr4978 flight.The agency has indicated in a statement that the "apparent forced landing" of the Ryanair aircraft could have violated the Chicago agreement, a 1944 agreement that established the fundamental principles of civil aviation.
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Svetlana Tijanóvskaya has denounced what he considers an operation of Belarusian secret services and has claimed new measures against the president of the country, which has been in power for more than 26 years.“Lukashenko's regime endangered the life of passengers aboard the plane.From now on, no one who flies on Belarus can be sure.An international reaction is needed! ”The opponent wrote on social networks, who faced Lukashenko in the presidential presidential the votes.Tijanóvskaya had to leave Belarus last August, shortly after the elections, after receiving threats to his family, and has settled in Vilna.
Outrage in the European Union
The opposition considers what happened with Ryanair's plane this Sunday as a new Lukashenko maneuver and one more and more precious step in its repressive policy against dissent.The president of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda, who has described the event as "abominable" and "unprecedented", has asked the Atlantic Alliance and the European Union to take measures on the threat it represents for civil aviation the diversion under those circumstances under these circumstances.The president believes that the bomb threat was a trick to force the plane to land and stop the informant, and demanded the immediate release of the ship.
The high representative for EU foreign policy, Josep Borrell, declared that what happened is "unacceptable": "We place the responsibility for the safety of all passengers on the flight over the Belarus Authorities," he tweeted.Also Charles Michel, president of the European Council, was very concerned about what happened, asked Minsk explanations and demanded that "all" passengers of the deviant flight continue their trip."The investigation of the incident by the ICAO will be of primary importance," he said.
The arrest of Prostaevich and the circumstances in which it has occurred have also outraged the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, which has asked the European Council to discuss new sanctions against Lukashenko's circle in the meetings that begin on Monday: “The kidnappingof a civil plane is an act of unprecedented state terrorism.It can't be unpunished, ”he has written on Twitter.Germany has demanded from the Belarusian government an "immediate explanation" of what happened, has claimed the Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Berger.
In contrast, in Russia, deputy Viacheslav Lysakov has declared that the arrest of the informant has been a "brilliant special operation", while the director of the Pro-Kremlin RT channel, Margarita Simonyan, stressed on social networks that with the maneuver the maneuverBelarusian leader "played great".
Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, has increased repression against opposition and against independent media.All outstanding political opponents are today in prison - as María Koleshnikova or Serguéi Tijanovski, Tijanóvskaya husband - or in exile.On Tuesday, in one more movement against freedom of the press, the Russian authorities began another case against the Independent news portal Belaruso Tub.by for "large -scale fiscal evasion", they raided their offices in Minsk and blocked their servers.
The numerous protests that warmed the belloruse summer, and in which more than 30.000 people were arrested, according to the calculations of civil rights organizations, they have lost bellows for the fear of repression.Lukashenko remains in the position, also underpinned by Russia with the support of President Vladimir Putin and new economic loans, and opposition and civil society have passed to a guerrilla protest with activities in the neighborhoods and small demonstrations.
