KidnappingAirlines Shun Belarusian Airspace as Calls for Sanctions over Plane Diversion Grow

Published 25 May 2021

The global aviation industry has moved to isolate Belarus as the leader of the country’s opposition called for the international community to act in concert to stop authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka from continuing to act with “impunity” following the diversion of a commercial airline to Minsk, where one of the passengers, an opposition journalist, was arrested.

The global aviation industry has moved to isolate Belarus as the leader of the country’s opposition called for the international community to act in concert to stop authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka from continuing to act with “impunity” following the diversion of a commercial airline to Minsk, where one of the passengers, an opposition journalist, was arrested.

Belarus caused international outrage when it forced a Ryanair flight traveling between EU members Greece and Lithuania to land on May 23 in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, where Belarusian journalist and opposition activist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend were detained.

Some EU leaders called the incident “state hijacking.”

A video released by Belarusian authorities showed the 26-year-old Pratasevich confessing to having organized anti-government demonstrations, which British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said made for distressing viewing and opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya said left no doubt that Pratasevich made the “confession” under duress and had been tortured.

Tsikhanouskaya, who lives in exile in Lithuania, said on social media on May 25 that it was time to discuss joint steps “to bring the perpetrators to justice” after months of a brutal crackdown by Lukashenka on his opponents and independent journalists amid claims he won a rigged election last year.

He said that he was treated lawfully, but he’s clearly beaten and under pressure. There is no doubt that he was tortured. He was taken hostage,” Tsikhanouskaya told a news conference in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

Belarus has not commented on the torture allegation but has consistently denied abusing detainees, despite some rights groups claiming there is strong evidence to the contrary.

All of this is a result of the regime’s impunity and the lack of a decisive response from the international community,” Tsikhanouskaya added.

The call from Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus after the election due to concerns about her safety, came as U.S. President Joe Biden condemned Minsk for what he called an “outrageous incident” that would be met with a coordinated response with European allies.

Belarus’s forced diversion of a commercial Ryanair flight, traveling between two member states of the European Union, and subsequent removal and arrest of Raman Pratasevich, a Belarusian journalist traveling abroad, are a direct affront to international norms,” Biden said in a statement.