{"id":257685,"date":"2021-05-24T20:13:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T17:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/russia-fine-with-belarus-plane-hijacking-to-arrest-journalist\/"},"modified":"2021-05-24T20:13:04","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T17:13:04","slug":"russia-fine-with-belarus-plane-hijacking-to-arrest-journalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/russia-fine-with-belarus-plane-hijacking-to-arrest-journalist\/","title":{"rendered":"#Russia fine with Belarus plane ‘hijacking’ to arrest journalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Russia fine with Belarus plane ‘hijacking’ to arrest journalist<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Belarus faced growing international outrage and threats of sanctions Monday over the \u201chijacking\u201d of a passenger jet to arrest an outspoken critic \u2014 a move that only Russia defended as \u201cabsolutely reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Britain on Monday barred Belarus\u2019s national airline and instructed UK aircraft to avoid Belarussian airspace, while Lithuania and France both called for the Eastern European nation\u2019s airspace to be blocked.<\/p>\n

European Union leaders were also set to debate enforcing tougher sanctions against Belarus on Monday for what EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called an \u201coutrageous and illegal behavior.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Brussels summoned the Belarusian ambassador to condemn the \u201ccoercive act\u201d of forcing the Ryanair jet to land in Minsk under the guise of a bomb threat to arrest Raman Pratasevich, a vocal critic of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.<\/p>\n

\"Journalists
Journalists and Belarusian activists wait to see passengers from the Ryanair plane carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich at the International Airport outside Vilnius, Lithuania on May 23, 2021.<\/figcaption>
AP\/Mindaugas Kulbis<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ryanair chief executive Michael O\u2019Leary said it app<\/a>eared that agents of the Belarusian KGB were on the plane \u2014 and they also deplaned in Minsk before the other passengers continued on to Lithuania.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the first time it\u2019s happened to a European airline,\u201d O\u2019Leary told Ireland\u2019s Newstalk radio<\/a>. \u201cIt was a state-sponsored hijacking, it was state-sponsored piracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called it a \u201cstate-sponsored terror act,\u201d and Poland also denounced it as \u201can act of state terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Belarus
Belarus faces global outrage of the forced landing of an airplane to arrest Raman Pratasevich, although Russia defended the action.<\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NATO\u2019s Secretary General<\/a>, Jens Stoltenberg, also demanded a probe into the \u201cserious and dangerous incident.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Amid the international outrage, Russia stood by its key ally \u2014 and mocked western leaders for their outrage, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called it an \u201cabsolutely reasonable approach\u201d while ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Western nations of \u201ckidnappings, forced landings and illegal arrests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Security
Security uses a sniffer dog to check passengers\u2019 luggage on the Ryanair plane carrying opposition figure Raman Pratasevich.<\/figcaption>
ONLINER.BY via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe are shocked that the West calls the incident in Belarusian air space \u2018shocking,’\u201d Zakharova said on Facebook<\/a>, according to AFP.<\/p>\n

Belarus on Monday also insisted the country had acted legally and accused the West of playing politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no doubt that the actions of our competent authorities\u2026 fully met established international rules,\u201d foreign ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz said in a statement, according to AFP.<\/p>\n

\"Belarus
Belarus journalist Raman Pratasevich was arrested during a forced landing a passenger jet.<\/figcaption>
Euroradio via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cUnfounded accusations are being made,\u201d he said, accusing the West of \u201cpoliticizing\u201d the situation.<\/p>\n

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said it had notified its 31 member states about the incident and an airline source said the agency had recommended \u201ccaution\u201d over Belarus.<\/p>\n

With Post wires<\/em>\n <\/div>\n