You're reading: BBC: Western powers voice outrage at Ryanair plane ‘hijacking’

BBC: Western powers voice outrage at Ryanair plane ‘hijacking’

By BBC.

Published May 24, 2021 at 7:23 am

A Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS (flight number FR4978) is parked on Minsk International Airport's apron in Minsk, on May 23, 2021. - Belarusian opposition Telegram channel Nexta said Sunday its former editor and exiled opposition activist Roman Protasevich had been detained at Minsk airport after his Lithuania-bound flight made an emergency landing. Protasevich was travelling aboard a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, which made an emergency landing following a bomb scare, TASS news agency reported citing the press service of Minsk airport. "The plane was checked, no bomb was found and all passengers were sent for another security search," Nexta said. "Among them was... Nexta journalist Roman Protasevich. He was detained."

Photo by AFP

Western countries have expressed outrage at the forced diversion of a plane carrying a Belarusian activist on an internal EU flight on Sunday. EU leaders are due to discuss their response to what the union’s executive called a “hijacking” and the US state department “a shocking act”.