The Polish Prosecutor's Office charged three Belarusian representatives in connection with the forced landing in 2021 of a Ryanair airliner. in Minsk. A Belarusian blogger, an opponent of the authorities, was traveling on board the plane at the time, reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
Investigators accuse the three Belarusians of taking control of the plane, forcing it to land and depriving passengers of their freedom, the prosecutor's office in Warsaw said in a statement. Authorities plan to request international arrest warrants for the three Belarusians who are not in Poland.
Blogger Roman Protasevich, who was on the plane at the time, supports the opposition against long-time Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. The machine he was traveling in was on a flight from Athens to Vilnius. In May 2021, Belarusian authorities, assisted by a fighter jet, forced the plane to make an unscheduled landing in Minsk, claiming there was a bomb threat against it. After landing, Protasevich was arrested along with his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, who was traveling with him. The two were sentenced to prison. Protasiewicz was then unexpectedly released in 2023, and Sapega was pardoned.
The Polish Prosecutor's Office took up the investigation of the incident, as the plane is registered in Poland.