Belarus uses State Power to "hijack" passenger plane

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  Belarus uses State Power to "hijack" passenger plane

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Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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• The story: Perhaps for the first time in history, authorities in Belarus scrambled a fighter jet and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force a Ryanair plane to land. They then detained an opposition-minded journalist, not a Belarus citizen, making intentions clear. 

• Dramatic event: The dramatic incident saw a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet escort a Ryanair-operated passenger plane flying from Athens to Lithuania. The plane was instead suddenly diverted to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where authorities detained journalist Roman Protasevich who had been on board. The flightradar24.com website showed the plane was diverted just two minutes before it was due to cross into Lithuanian airspace from Belarus. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called for an international response.
• State terrorism: EU member state Lithuania, where Roman Protasevich is based, urged the European Union and NATO to respond. Germany called for an immediate explanation and Poland's prime minister called it a "reprehensible act of state terrorism". Ms. Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, said Belarus's action was "utterly unacceptable", while British foreign minister Dominic Raab said there would be serious implications for what he called "outlandish action." Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who like Protasevich operates from Lithuania, called on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to kick Belarus out of the organisation.
• A desperate Lukashenko: The incident is certain to worsen already dire relations between the West and Belarus, which has been tightly controlled since 1994 by President Alexander Lukashenko. Opponents accuse him of rigging a presidential election in his own favour last year and of then cracking down violently on the opposition. He denies electoral fraud.
• The man: Protasevich, 26, worked for an online opposition news service NEXTA, a Telegram channel that broadcast footage of mass protests against Lukashenko in 2020 at a time when it was hard for foreign media to do so. Protasevich, who now works for a different Telegram channel called Belamova and who describes himself on Twitter ironically as the first "journalist-terrorist" in history, is based in Lithuania. He is wanted in Belarus on extremism charges and stands accused of organising mass riots and of inciting social hatred, allegations he denies. It emerged that Lukashenko had personally ordered the warplane to escort the Ryanair plane to Minsk. No explosives were found. 

• Belarus unrest: Around 35,000 people have been detained in Belarus since August, human rights groups say. Dozens have received jail terms. Authorities say that more than 1,000 criminal cases have been launched. 
• History of the crisis: Belarus was earlier known as Belorussia or White Russia. It became independent in 1991, and was the smallest of the three Slavic republics in the Soviet Union (the larger two being Russia and Ukraine). Like Ukraine, this nation of 9.5 million is caught in rivalry between the West and Russia. President Lukashenko, an ally of Russia, is called "Europe's last dictator" and is in power for 26 years. He uses censorship and police crackdowns against opponents. A huge opposition movement started in 2020, demanding new, democratic leadership and economic reform. Allegations are that Lukashenko rigged the 9 August election but officially won by a landslide. His fans say his toughness has kept the country stable.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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