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Ryanair flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius on May 23. he was forcibly escorted by a fighter plane and landed in Minsk, where opposition journalist R. Pratasevičius and his friend Sofia Sapega were detained.
Speaking at the UK Parliament’s Transport Committee, O’Leary said that Minsk airport controllers had told Ryanair pilots that they had received “a notification that an airborne bomb will be detonated when the plane enters. in Lithuanian airspace or try to land in Vilnius. “
According to the Ryanair boss, the plane’s captain “repeatedly” asked the Minsk dispatcher to connect him to the Ryanair control center in Warsaw, but was told that “Ryanair does not answer calls.” However, Mr. O’Leary emphasized, this was a “complete lie.”
According to O’Leary, Ryanair jets at the scene would normally land in Poland or the Baltic states, but the captain was under “severe pressure” to land in Minsk.
“He was not ordered to do so, but he was left with no alternatives,” O’Leary told the committee.
When the plane landed in Minsk, “several unidentified people with video cameras boarded the plane,” the Ryanair chief said.
“They repeatedly pressured the flight crew on video to confirm that the plane was heading to Minsk voluntarily, but the crew refused to confirm,” O’Leary said.
He added that the passengers and crew had been transferred to the airport terminal and the captain remained on the plane, but every time he left the cabin he was accompanied by an armed guard.
“It was a hostile and very threatening environment. We finally managed to get the plane back from Minsk in about eight hours, “O’Leary said.
According to the Ryanair boss, five passengers were missing when the plane took off: R. Pratasevičius, S. Sapega and three “unidentified persons”.
“We know from the security agencies that they were most likely KGB agents.” Whether it was the Russian KGB or the Belarusian KGB, we don’t know, but it is unclear if there is any difference between them, “O’Leary said. .
“It was a clear pre-planned violation of all international aviation and safety rules and regulations.” The plane landed for false reasons using Minsk airport controllers and it seems obvious that two passengers were taken against their will and detained, “he said the head of Ryanair.
Dublin, May 24. An incident in which an Irish airliner flying from Athens to Vilnius forcibly landed in Minsk was called an “state sponsored” act of “aviation piracy” and a wanted former Belarusian opposition activist was arrested.
“It was really state-sponsored aviation piracy,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told RTE, adding that the Belarusian government had no democratic legitimacy.
“We cannot allow this incident to pass with harsh warnings or press releases. I believe that real sanctions must be applied here,” he said.
“If the EU shows indecision or weakness in this case, it will strengthen the belief of Belarusian decision makers that they have done everything right,” said the head of Irish diplomacy. “So I think the answer must be clear, firm and it must happen quickly,” he added.
Ramanas Pratasevičius, a Belarusian opposition activist and blogger flying on a Ryanair plane and founder of the Nexta information channel, was arrested after landing in Minsk. In addition, her friend Sofia Sapega was arrested.
The Nexta and Nexta Live channels are important voices in the Belarusian opposition and have helped mobilize protesters during unprecedented demonstrations that rocked the country after last August’s controversial presidential elections. Lukashenko, who has been in charge of Belarus since 1994, has won a sixth term. The opposition and western democracies view the elections as rigged.
The Wall Street Journal reported in late May that Ryanair Holdings PLC had rejected Belarus’s allegations of diverting one of the company’s planes and angrily condemned the crash landing in a private letter, asking management to identify three suspicious passengers. security services. .
O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, sent the letter to the Belarusian director of aviation. In a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, O’Leary described the incident as an “intentional and illegal” kidnapping and a “prohibited and reprehensible act.”
In his letter, O’Leary claimed that the Belarusian authorities had made false and inaccurate statements about what happened and described the Minsk airport staff as “obstructionists”.
He called on the Belarusian authorities to release the arrested former Nexta editor R. Pratasevich and his comrade, and to establish the identities of the other three passengers who had boarded a plane from Athens to Vilnius in Minsk.
The airline’s CEO wrote that Ryanair considers them state security officials who “acted in accordance with the instructions of their government in organizing the illegal hijacking of our plane.”
In his letter, O’Leary noted that the pilot had no choice but to deviate from the flight path and land in Minsk based on information provided by the local air traffic controller, who was in contact with the aircraft while flying. in Belarusian. air space.
The letter indicates that air traffic controllers refused to contact Ryanair at the request of the pilot-in-command after being warned of the threat of an explosion. Belarusian authorities claimed that the country’s aviation officials had tried to contact the airline’s central management.
According to forbes.ru, the CEO of Ryanair complained in the letter about the treatment of passengers and crew in Minsk, noting that ground staff prevented the aircraft from resuming flight as soon as possible.
After landing, the crew and passengers were accompanied by armed guards, who were then detained “for more than six hours without explanation.”
The airport was unable to provide an English interpreter, so the crew were unable to communicate with airport staff until Ryanair finally provided a Russian interpreter over the phone.
The passengers’ luggage was searched with service dogs but did not undergo the usual X-ray screening procedures before being returned to the aircraft, O’Leary notes in the letter.
According to the head of Ryanair, the airport staff refused to refuel the plane and then refused to accept payment for fuel with a credit card. Later, the staff refused to allow passengers to board the plane ready for take off.
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