Belarus Detains Reporter on Ryanair Jet Diverted to Minsk

(Bloomberg) -- Belarusian authorities detained a journalist aboard a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius that was forced to land in Minsk.

Raman Pratasevich, the former editor-in-chief of the most popular Telegram news channel in Belarus, was arrested in the Minsk airport after the plane landed, according to the Minsk-based human rights center Viasna, which is not officially registered by the country’s authorities.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Olga Chemodanova declined to comment. Ryanair didn’t immediately respond to calls and emails outside of hours.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Twitter the flight was forced down and Pratasevich arrested in an “unprecedented event.” He called on NATO and the European Union to react to the threat posed by the Belarusian regime to civil aviation.

The plane, which was flying over Belarus en route to Lithuania, was escorted to Minsk by a MiG-29 fighter jet after a bomb threat, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported, citing the Minsk airport’s press service.

The flight had 171 passengers from 12 countries on board, including 90 Lithuanians, Lithuanian presidential adviser Asta Skaisgirytė said at a press conference. Belta reported there were 123 passengers.

The people were undergoing security checks and will remain in the airport’s transit zone until the plane departs, Belta reported, citing airport official Maksim Kiyakov.

Pratasevich was put on a terrorist watch list in November by the Belarusian State Security Committee, known as the KGB. Under Pratasevich, the Nexta-Live Telegram channel covered police brutality at the mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko after his disputed re-election last year.

Lithuania had granted Pratasevich political asylum.

Lukashenko is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in Sochi, Rossiya-1 television channel reported Sunday.

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