Journalist taken from ‘hijacked’ Ryanair flight shown in new video after Belarus arrest – World News
A journalist hauled off a Ryanair jet after it was forced to land in Belarus has appeared in a video taken in a prison.
In the video Belarusian blogger Roman Protasevich claims he is in good health and acknowledges having played a role in organising mass protests in Minsk last year.
Appearing on several channels of the Telegram messaging app the opposition activist, wearing a dark sweatshirt and with his hands tightly clasped in front of him, says he is in a pre-trial detention facility in Minsk and denies having heart problems reported by some social media.
He says that he has been treated “correctly and lawfully” and that he will continue to cooperate with the criminal investigation into his activities.
Protasevich then says he will confess to organising mass riots, according to translations of his message.
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It has been claimed that the 26-year-old journalist was forced to make the statement under duress.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran in the 2020 elections as the main opposition candidate which she claims were rigged by President Alexander Lukashenko, tweeted: “The regime’s propaganda channels posted a video of arrested Roman Protasevich, saying that he is treated lawfully in the Minsk Detention Center No1.
“This is how Raman looks under physical and moral pressure. I demand the immediate release of Raman and all political prisoners.”
Others have suggested that apparent marks on Protasevich’s forehead indicate that he was beaten.
It is unclear when the video was taken, but it was published following reports that he was critically ill with a heart condition.
Pawel Jablonski, Poland’s deputy foreign minister, told private broadcaster TVN24 that Protasevich’s mother had been in contact with his government.
“We have received a signal from the mother of Roman Protasevich that his health situation is very serious,” he said.
“That is as much as I can say on that subject.”
(Image: ONLINER.BY/AFP via Getty Images)
The journalist was detained in Minsk after Ryanair flight FR4978 from Greece to Lithuania changed course last night with a Belarusian MIG fighter having been scrambled to a supposed bomb scare.
Michael O’Leary, CEO of the Dublin-based airline, claimed the forced landing was a “state-sponsored hijacking ” and that “KGB agents” were on the plane.
More than 100 passengers were forced to land in Belarus against their will – and the action led to the arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich, on what Mr Raab called “spurious” charges by the regime led by Alexander Lukashenko.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Belarus had made a “calculated and cynical ploy” using a “hoax bomb alert” – and did not rule out further action to tackle its actions through the Nord Stream pipeline.
Belarus’ Ambassador to the UK was today summoned for Britain to convey its “condemnation” of the incident.
Vowing action, Mr Raab told Parliament: “The scenario as reported is a shocking assault on civil aviation and an assault on international law.
“It represents a danger to civilian flights everywhere and it is an egregious and extraordinary departure from the international law and international practice that guides international civil aviation under the Chicago convention.”
(Image: STRINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Mr Raab said the bomb threat appeared to have been non-existent. He told Parliament: “The Belarusian authorities claimed this was in relation to an alleged bomb threat. We’ve seen no evidence to support that claim.
“What we have seen is that Belarus scrambled a MIG fighter, forced the plane to divert to Minsk, then used this emergency landing as an opportunity to arrest a prominent journalist.”
Mr Lukashenko, 66, has faced the biggest challenge of his nearly 27-year-old rule from protesters who took to the streets after he was declared the winner of an election last year they said was rigged.
About 35,000 people have been detained since the start of regular demonstrations in August 2020. Lukashenko denies electoral fraud and has accused the West of sponsoring the protests.
