Topline
U.S prosecutors charged four Belarusian officials Thursday with conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy, after Belarus drew widespread condemnation in May 2021 for using an alleged bomb threat to ground a Ryanair flight and arrest a regime critic onboard the plane.
A Ryanair passenger flight from Athens, Greece, was intercepted and diverted to Minsk by Belarus … [+]
Key Facts
The four defendants — who remain at large in Belarus — include Leonid Mikalaevich Churo, the director general of Belarus’ state air navigation authority; Churo’s deputy Oleg Kazyuchits; and state security service officers Andrey Anatolievich Lnu and Fnu Lnu.
The defendants plotted to fake a bomb scare to justify landing Ryanair Flight 4978, a flight carrying four U.S. nationals and more than 100 other passengers, in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, so that journalist and government critic Roman Protasevich could be arrested, FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said.
Churo personally communicated the fake bomb threat to staff at the Minsk air traffic control center before Flight 4978 was in the air, and Fnu Lnu participated in the effort and communicated updates to Andrey Anatolievich Lnu, prosecutors allege.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Kazyuchits’ role was more indirect: He allegedly directed air traffic authorities to falsify incident reports and conceal evidence that the bomb threat was a hoax, in what prosecutors described an effort to cover up the incident.
Belarusian dissident Roman Protasevich.
Crucial Quote
“Not only is what took place a reckless violation of U.S. law, it’s extremely dangerous to the safety of everyone who flies in an airplane,” Driscoll said. “The next pilot who gets a distress call from a tower may doubt the authenticity of the emergency—which puts lives at risk.”
Key Background
The circumstances of Protasevich’s arrest on accusations of fomenting “mass unrest” provoked international outrage. Protasevich has been an outspoken critic of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for more than 20 years and has muzzled most media outlets in the country. Protasevich spent years living in Lithuania, hoping to avoid imprisonment in his native Belarus, whose security service designated him a terrorist. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the diversion of the flight as an “unprecedented act of state terrorism,” and called for stronger sanctions against the Belarusian government, which has already been harshly penalized for violently suppressing protests and running an election in 2020 widely believed to be rigged in favor of Lukashenko. Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, who was also arrested, publicly confessed to criminal charges, apparently under duress, the BBC reported.
What To Watch For
Protasevich and Sapega were moved to house arrest in June, but their current status is unknown. Protastevich’s last publicly reported contact with the outside world took place in October.
Further Reading
“U.S. Charges 4 Belarus Officials With Piracy in Forced Landing of Jet” (New York Times)
“Belarus Intercepts Ryanair Flight And Detains Journalist, Sparking International Outrage” (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2022/01/20/us-charges-officials-in-belarus-with-piracy-for-forcing-plane-with-dissident-to-land/