Western powers voice outrage as Belarus accused of hijacking plane

EPA Roman Protasevich, seen here in 2017, was arrested after the plane landed in Minsk

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".

Belarus forced the plane, which was bound for Lithuania, to land in Minsk claiming a bomb threat to the aircraft.

It arrested the Belarusian journalist and activist Roman Protasevich.

The 26-year-old was aboard the Ryanair plane, which was flying from Athens. The aircraft was due to land in Vilnius but still in Belarusian airspace when Belarusian authorities scrambled a fighter jet and diverted it to the country's capital.

State media in Belarus said President Alexander Lukashenko had personally given the order for the move following the bomb alert, which turned out to be false. The plane landed in Vilnius more than six hours after its scheduled arrival.

Publish : 2021-05-24 11:44:00

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