Belarus’ interception of an industrial flight Sunday in order to arrest Roman Protasevich, a 26-year-old Lithuania-based objector blog owner has activated global outrage and condemnation.
Protasevich faces charges of inciting mass rallies in Belarus complying with last summer season’s questioned governmental election which activated an unprecedented wave of protest across the country.
The EU has currently hit Belarus with a sweeping travel ban, blocking access to its airspace and prompting European airlines to stay clear of the nation.
Below’s what’s happened up until now:
Flight intercepted
- Belarus forced Ryanair trip FR4978, travelling from Athens, Greece to Vilnius, Lithuania, to make an emergency touchdown at Minsk airport Sunday mid-day, pointing out a bomb threat.
- Strongman President Alexander Lukashenko released a MiG-29 fighter jet to obstruct the airline just minutes prior to it was set to leave Belarusian air space and also start its descent into Vilnius.
- Protasevich was apprehended after the aircraft landed in Minsk. He encounters charges of arranging the mass protests which appeared throughout the nation in 2015 complying with a questioned presidential political election– charges which lug a maximum charge of 15 years.
- The 27-member bloc additionally stated it would certainly hit Belarus with “targeted financial sanctions” and also include more businesses as well as people to a list of approved entities, banning them from taking a trip to Europe and also doing business with European firms.
- The EU already has sanctions in position against 88 figures and 7 firms, put in place in feedback to the suppression on opposition launched in 2015 in advance of, and also after, the challenged August 2020 presidential election.
- Resistance leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has backed the sanctions against Minsk. In a telephone call with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan she said she had actually “called on the U.S. to separate the regime, stress it via sanctions, support Belarusians and hold a high-level global seminar on settling the situation.” She likewise called on the Belarusian resistance to be welcomed to next months’ G7 conference in Britain.