The international non-governmental organization Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of the Belarusian journalist, former editor of the NEXTA telegram channel recognized as extremist in Belarus, Rpman Protasevich.
“There is little doubt that the Belarusian authorities used a false bomb threat and a MiG fighter jet to force an airplane flying from one country of the European Union to another to land with the apparent sole purpose of detaining an exiled critical journalist whom they badly wanted silenced. While it sounds like an extraordinary Hollywood plot, it’s not. The reality of this apparent act of air piracy is chilling. The European Union and the rest of the world must react without delay and call for the immediate release of Roman Protasevich. He should be allowed to leave Belarus and travel to the country of his choice,” a statement posted on May 24 says.
The Amnesty International said that last year NEXTA and its sister channels were declared “extremist” and subsequently banned in Belarus by the country’s security services, as part of the authorities’ brutal crackdown on peaceful dissent in the country after the widely-disputed results of the 9 August presidential elections. Roman Protasevich and his associate Stsyapan Putsila were arbitrarily added to Belarus’s list of “individuals involved in terrorist activity.” The two were also charged with “incitement of mass riots”, “gross violation of public order” and “incitement od social hatred” against public officials and law enforcement agents. These crimes carry penalties of up to 15 years in prison.
As reported, a Ryanair passenger plane, flying from Athens to Vilnius in the afternoon of May 23, was landed at the Minsk airport due to a message about purported bomb threat. The Pool of the First Telegram channel, close to the press service of the President of Belarus, reported that the decision to land the plane in Minsk was made personally by Alexander Lukashenko. Also, on his behalf, a MiG-29 fighter was raised to escort a passenger plane into the sky. Ryanair company reported on Sunday that the plane had landed at Minsk airport, as Belarusian air traffic controllers informed about a potential security threat on the plane. After checking the plane, this information was not confirmed, and it went to its destination.
One of the passengers on the plane was Raman Pratasevich, editor-in-chief of the NEXTA internet resource recognized as extremist in Belarus, which had previously been put on the interstate wanted list by Belarus. He was detained after the plane had landed.
