Need to know: Belarus plane hijacking

The Belarusian government created diplomatic shockwaves on Sunday after it forced a plane flying over its territory to land in the Belarus capital of Minsk, in order to arrest Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist. 

The move has prompted a chorus of outrage from Western countries. 

What exactly happened and how are world leaders responding? Here’s what you need to know. 

What happened?

The Ryanair plane was flying from Athens to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, on Sunday. Two minutes before it was set to cross from Belarusian to Lithuanian airspace, it suddenly swerved East towards Minsk. 

Ryanair says the crew were “notified by Belarus (Air Traffic Control) of a potential security threat on board and were instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk”.

Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, scrambled a fighter jet to meet the plane and force it to land, claiming a bomb threat. 

When the plane landed, police arrived and led Roman Protasevich away. It is believed they also detained his girlfriend, the Russian citizen Sofia Sapega, but neither Minsk nor Moscow have publicly confirmed Sapega’s arrest and it is not clear if she has been charged with a crime.

Ryanair said checks in Minsk found “nothing untoward” and the plane landed in Vilnius about six hours behind schedule.

There are unconfirmed reports that four members of the Belarus security service also boarded the flight and disembarked after the emergency landing in Minsk.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, said: “It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his travelling companion…we believe there were some KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well.”

Who is Protasevich and why was he targeted?

Protasevich, 26, is a former editor of the influential Nexta Telegram channel – a media source which has been critical of Lukashenko’s regime. 

Belarusian authorities have accused Protasevich of fomenting the mass protests in the country last year against the President. 

Protasevich left Belarus in 2019 to live in exile in Lithuania. He now works for a different Telegram channel, Belamova, having replaced the blogger Igor Losik, who was arrested by the Belarusian authorities in June last year.

Passengers on the diverted plane say Protasevich was trembling before he was led away by the Belarusian police. “He just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty,” Monika Simkiene told AFP news agency.

The mass unrest charges against him carry a sentence of up to 15 years. His current whereabouts are unknown.

What is the wider context?

Like Ukraine, the eastern European Republic of Belarus is caught in a bitter rivalry between the West and Russia (which borders it to the East).

President Lukashenko, 66, who has presided over the nation of 9.5 million for 27 years, is Putin’s staunch ally. But a mass opposition movement is demanding democratic leadership and economic reform. 

In August 2020, Lukashenko was re-elected as leader after a landslide victory but many – including Western governments – believe the election was rigged.

Since winning the disputed election, Lukashenko’s government has taken an increasingly authoritarian turn. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the Western-backed opposition leader standing against him, has fled into exile in Lithuania. 

The government has led a heavy-handed crackdown on dissenting voices. Tens of thousands of protesters thronged Minsk for months last year, furious at Lukashenko’s declaration of victory. This led to over 2,700 prosecutions and there have been widespread reports of brutal torture in Belarusian jails.

Why is the plane diversion so significant?

A government forcing a civilian flight to land is highly unusual, and certainly the first time such an incident has taken place involving a European airline, according to O’Leary. 

“This was a case of state-sponsored hijacking… state-sponsored piracy,” he said this morning. 

It sets a dangerous global precedent, and has sparked fears that the intervention will serve as a blueprint for other countries looking to pursue their domestic enemies overseas. 

Tom Tugendhat, chair of the UK foreign affairs select committee, has warned: “If an aircraft can be forced to the ground…in order to punish the political opponents of tyrants, then journalists here in the UK, politicians anywhere in Europe, will find it harder to speak out.”

What has the global response been?

Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, who says Protasevich has been arrested “on the basis of a ruse”, has called for his immediate release. 

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels on Monday and Nato ambassadors are meeting on Tuesday to discuss what action to take against this act of “state terrorism” from Belarus. Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, has warned that “the outrageous and illegal behaviour… will have consequences”.

Eight foreign affairs committee chairs from the UK, the US and the EU are calling for a ban on flights over Belarus, and some officials have even suggested that cars and lorries could be stopped from entering the EU from Belarus.

Lithuania has advised its citizens against travel to Belarus, and urged those already in the country to leave.

A number of European leaders – including the Polish prime minister and president of Lithuania – have called for harsher economic sanctions on Lukashenko’s regime.

The EU has already imposed sanctions on Lukanhesko and nearly 60 Belarusian officials, including travel bans and asset freezes. Yet Lukanhesko’s unwavering support from Moscow has blunted their impact.

The Russian government has defended the Belarus plane hijack, accusing the West of hypocrisy for their “shock” at the incident, in spite of the “kidnappings, forced landings and illegal arrests” previously conducted by Western nations.