The European Union has barred all its member airlines from flying over Belarus in protest over what it called as brazen ‘hijacking’ of an airplane flying over its airspace to arrest a prominent Belarusian government critic.
IN what appears to be an attempt to silent voices of dissent against his rule, dictator President Alexander Lukashenko apparently gave the personal order to force a plane to land and arrest self-exiled journalist Roman Protasevic.
On Sunday, the Belarusian jet fighter ordered Ryanair flight FR4978, bound to Lithuania from Greece, to land in Minsk under the pretense of a bomb threat from Palestinian-based militant, Hamas.
However, Hamas dismissed the accusation, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed the claim as "completely implausible".
After the landing and the passengers disembarked, the true motives of the diversion revealed itself as state police arrested Protasevich along with his girlfriend Sofia Sapega and brought to a Minsk jail.
According to witnesses, the 26-year-old journalist told fellow passengers that he fears he would be sentenced to death later on by the government, who happened to be the only European country that still executes prisoners.
Protasevich, priorly accused with terrorism and inciting riots, is a former editor of Nexta, a media group using the platform of Telegram.
The agency is critical of Lukashenko who ruled the country since 1994 and is labeled by critics as Europe’s last dictator.
“Tortured”
On Monday, Belarus authorities released a video of Protasevich confessing to the crimes charged against him while reassuring viewers that he was in good health and is voluntarily cooperating with the government.
But critics, including the country’s opposition leader, say the journalist was coerced to do this since he was in detention. They also mentioned an unusual mark on his forehead which looked like it was struck by a hard object.
Protasevich's family fears on what treatment could be given to him and said he may be tortured.
"We hope that he will cope. We are afraid to even think about it, but it's possible he could be beaten and tortured. We are really afraid of that," his father told the BBC.
"We hope that the whole international community, including the European Union, will put unprecedented pressure on the authorities. We hope the pressure will work and the authorities will realize they've made a really big mistake."
Flight bans
Outraged by the actions of the 66-year-old head of state, several countries expressed their respective condemnation, with some imposing serious consequence if Protasevich is not immediately released.
Several high-ranking Belarusian officials have already been sanctioned with travel bans and asset freezes among others by the European Union (EU) as response.
It also banned the country’s airlines from entering the region’s airspace aside from more economic sanctions.
Other European airlines have also begun redirecting flights away from the country’s airspace.
For United States President Joe Biden, the actions of the Belarusian authorities were infuriating and said it was a "shameful assaults on both political dissent and the freedom of the press".
Meanwhile, Belarus and Latvia expelled both their respective designated ambassadors after the latter hoisted the opposition’s flag as a protest to the former’s thug-like behavior.
(JT)
Tags: #Belarus, #EuropeanUnion, #airplanehijacking, #RomanProtasevic