The Public Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro ordered an investigation into the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk, said the spokesman of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office, attorney Łukasz Łapczyński. Sunday’s incident, which resulted in the arrest of the top Belarusian oppositionist Raman Pratasevich, sparked firm reactions in Europe.
The proceedings will be directed towards “the use of deception and threats to take control of the aircraft and imprison its passengers.”
Under the pretext of a bomb threat, Belarus forced a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius to land at Minsk airport on Sunday. The information about the bomb turned out to be false after checking the plane. One of the passengers was Raman Pratasevich, a leading Belarusian opposition activist-in-exile who was arrested shortly after the landing.
Germany demands release of Pratasevich
Heiko Maas, the German Foreign Minister, condemned Belarus forcing a diversion of the Ryanair flight route and the detention of the Belarusian opposition journalist Raman Pratasevich in Minsk, and demanded his release.
“The fact that a flight between two EU countries was interrupted under the pretext of a bomb threat represents a serious interference with civilian air traffic in Europe,” Maas wrote on Twitter on Sunday evening.
“Alexander Lukashenko must be treated like a criminal from now on,” stated Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, the liberal Bundestag deputy. Green party candidate Annalena Baerbock wrote that “the European Union cannot accept this unprecedented escalation,” and “a mass threat to the European civil aviation.” In turn, the Liberal party FDP demanded that the state-owned Belarusian Belavia airlines be deprived of the right to land in European Union member states.
Lukashenko has to face consequences
Belarusian President must face the consequences for forcing a Ryanair plane to land in Minsk and arresting an opposition journalist at the airport, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab stated on Monday, adding that “this outlandish action by Mr Lukashenko will have serious implications.
“Great Britain calls for the immediate release of Mr. Pratasevich and other political prisoners held in Belarus. The United Kingdom is working with allies on a coordinated response, including further sanctions, and calls for an urgent meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation Council to discuss the Minsk regime’s disregard for the international rules protecting civil aviation,” he added.