Belarus faced international condemnation and isolation Monday, a day after President Alexander Lukashenko sent a MiG-29 fighter jet to snatch a commercial plane out of the sky while it was flying over his country’s airspace.
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End of carouselRyanair Flight 4978, traveling Sunday between Athens and Vilnius, Lithuania, was forced to land in Minsk by Belarusian authorities. Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist on board, was arrested and could face 12 years or more in prison.
European leaders on Monday agreed to impose sectoral sanctions on Belarus and to bar E.U. airlines from flying over the country.
President Biden called the diversion of the plane and arrest of Protasevich “a direct affront to international norms” and said his administration would “develop appropriate options to hold accountable those responsible.”
In a video posted on a Telegram channel Monday, Protasevich attested that he is being treated decently and had confessed to organizing mass riots. In Belarus, forced video testimonials are common.
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Skip to end of carousel
End of carouselRyanair Flight 4978, traveling Sunday between Athens and Vilnius, Lithuania, was forced to land in Minsk by Belarusian authorities. Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist on board, was arrested and could face 12 years or more in prison.
European leaders on Monday agreed to impose sectoral sanctions on Belarus and to bar E.U. airlines from flying over the country.
President Biden called the diversion of the plane and arrest of Protasevich “a direct affront to international norms” and said his administration would “develop appropriate options to hold accountable those responsible.”
In a video posted on a Telegram channel Monday, Protasevich attested that he is being treated decently and had confessed to organizing mass riots. In Belarus, forced video testimonials are common.
