Belarus had KGB agents on the passenger plane that was diverted to arrest a dissident journalist, Ryanair CEO says

Belarus on Sunday diverted a Ryanair plane and arrested a journalist who was on board.

Roman Protasevich, 26, fled to Poland in 2019 and is accused of terrorism in Belarus.

Ryanair's CEO said on Monday that Belarusian KGB agents were on the plane during the forced landing.

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Belarusian KGB agents were on board the Ryanair plane that was abruptly diverted so a dissident journalist could be arrested, the airline's CEO said on Monday.

On Sunday, Belarus forced a Ryanair plane that was flying from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania, to land in Minsk after local air traffic control informed the pilots of a bomb threat.

Once on the ground, authorities found no security threat on board, but Belarusian police entered the plane and arrested a passenger, the 26-year-old journalist Roman Protasevich.

Protasevich is one of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's most vocal critics. He had been living in Poland since 2019 over fears for his safety, and has continued to criticize Lukashenko from afar.

Lukashenko personally deployed a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the plane to Minsk, his office said.

Appearing on Ireland's "Newstalk Breakfast" on Monday, Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's CEO, called the grounding "a case of state-sponsored hijacking" in which "the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist."

A woman at Vilnius International Airport on May 23. Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty

O'Leary went on to say that he believed that agents from the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus, known as the KGB, were on board the plane when it took off from Athens.

"We believe there were some KGB agents off-loaded at the airport as well," he said, referring to the airport in Minsk.

A Ryanair spokesperson told Insider in a Monday statement: "Ryanair condemns the unlawful actions of Belarusian authorities who diverted Ryanair's flight FR4978 to Minsk yesterday (23 May), which was an act of aviation piracy."

"This is now being dealt with by EU safety and security agencies & NATO. Ryanair is fully cooperating with them and we cannot comment further for security reasons."

World leaders have criticized Lukashenko for what they said is a brazen kidnapping attempt and human-rights violation.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted on Sunday that the US condemned the "brazen and shocking act." And Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said on Sunday that "the incident will not remain without consequences."

Ryanair's initial statement on the grounding, issued on Sunday, made no mention of the false security threat or Protasevich's arrest.

—Ryanair Press Office (@RyanairPress) May 23, 2021

Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus since 1994, and was recently accused of manipulating the results of last year's election in his favor. He has long been called "Europe's last dictator."

His office said at the time that he had won just over 80% of the vote, but Josep Borrell, the EU foreign minister, said the election was "neither free nor fair."

Since the election, Lukashenko's administration has cracked down on opposition, limited access to the internet, shut down independent media outlets, and jailed activists.

Belarus has accused Protasevich, who had edited the popular Telegram channels Nexta and Nexta Live, of terrorism and provoking riots.

In November, the country charged him with inciting public disorder and social hatred, which, if he's convicted, could lead to 12 years in prison, The New York Times reported.

After the plane was diverted to Minsk on Sunday, Protasevich told fellow passengers that he was "facing the death penalty," the Lithuanian news site Delfi News reported.

The Belarusian KGB has included Protasevich on a list of terrorists, The Times reported. If he is convicted of terrorism, he could face the death penalty.