UK bars Belarus airline after plane forced to land in Minsk
May 24, 2021
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LONDON (AP) Britain on Monday barred Belarus’s national airline and instructed U.K. aircraft to avoid Belarussian airspace after a Ryanair passenger jet was forced to land in Minsk.
The government said it was suspending the permit allowing airline Belavia to operate in the U.K.. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he had instructed Britain s Civil Aviation Authority “to request airlines avoid Belarusian airspace in order to keep passengers safe.”
A Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, unexpectedly landed in Belarus on Sunday. Ryanair said Belarusian flight controllers told the pilots that there was a bomb threat against the jetliner and ordered them to land in Minsk.
Ryanair s Michael O Leary condemns state-sponsored piracy after jet with KGB agents on board was forced to land in Belarus and opposition blogger and his girlfriend were hauled off pleading for his life after MiG-29 threatened to shoot plane down
Opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, 26, was detained after flight to Lithuania was forced down at Minsk
Belarus claimed that there was a bomb threat but O Leary poured scorn on the notion, describing it as state-sponsored hijacking, adding that we believe there were some KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well
Tory MP Tom Tugendhat called it a warlike act, joining the British government and other Western countries who have condemned the grounding of the Boeing 737 which had more than 170 passengers on board
Roman Protasevich: Fears journalist arrested in Belarus has been tortured after Ryanair flight hijacked
Roman Protasevich has been detained after his flight from Athens, Greece, was
rerouted from its scheduled destination of Vilnius, in Lithuania, to
Belarus capital Minsk on Sunday.
The 26-year-old has been described as a private enemy of Belarus president
Alexander Lukashenko, who has clung to power after what are widely regarded as unfair elections last year.
Speaking to Sky News on Monday, Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya expressed her fears for Mr Protasevich following his arrest and said that he may have been tortured .
Ms Tsikhanouskaya outlined how Mr Lukashenko - dubbed Europe s last dictator - feels able to enjoy impunity as he continues his 26-year rule over Belarus.
Aircraft have been instructed to avoid Belarusian airspace following the “state-sponsored hijack” of a Ryanair flight to enable the arrest of a prominent critic of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said further sanctions are being considered against the Lukashenko administration – including the suspension of energy pipelines in Belarus – and Belarus’s ambassador in London had been summoned for a dressing down.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he has instructed the Civil Aviation Authority to request airlines avoid Belarusian airspace “in order to keep passengers safe”.
He also suspended the operating permit for Belavia, the country’s state-owned airline.