Plane hijacking, kidnapping of journalist are outrages

The state-sponsored hijacking Sunday of an Irish airplane ― an outrageous crime directed by the dictator of Belarus to abduct a journalist who opposes the brutal buddy of Russia ― demands more than mere expressions of outrage.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has no shame, so no amount of spoken condemnation is enough. Short of the journalist's immediate release, a worldwide coalition should be formed to plan for consequences, and President Joe Biden should sign on and help to sign up others.

Lukashenko sent a fighter jet to intercept a Ryanair plane that was traveling through the Belarus airspace Sunday. The plane was ordered to land in the Belarus capital of Minsk. There, a prominent journalist who was a passenger was taken into custody. It is clear that the brazen hijacking of the plane and kidnapping of a passenger has the implicit, if not the explicit, support of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The outrageous maneuver from Lukashenko, a man who has been called Europe's last dictator, is the latest in an effort to tamp down dissent in his country. The journalist, 26-year-old Roman Protasevich, is a founder and a former editor of the NEXTA Telegram channel, one of the few platforms for uncensored communication in a country where many media organizations shut down after protests over a disputed presidential election in 2020.

In recent years, Protasevich, a native of the Eastern European country of Belarus, has been living in Lithuania. In Belarus, he has been accused of inciting hatred and disorder and is on a terrorist list for his role in Telegram's supposed coordination of protests.

The Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, had about 170 passengers aboard, including Protasevich. As the plane was flying over Belarus, the pilots were ordered to divert to Minsk due to “a potential security threat on board.” The plane was escorted by a Belarusian fighter jet to Minsk. After several hours on the ground there, the plane was allowed to depart. Protasevich was not aboard when it arrived in Lithuania. He had been arrested. Passengers reported that the journalist expressed fear for his life.

The United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization said it was “strongly concerned” by the “apparent forced landing” of the flight, a move which the organization said may constitute a violation of the Chicago Convention of 1944, which set the principles of international aviation. The Lithuanian government was more definitive: “It is an unprecedented attack against the international community: A civilian plane and its passengers have been hijacked by military force.”

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the executive committee of the European Union, said the incident was “utterly unacceptable.” The Greek Foreign Ministry called it a “state hijacking.” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland called it an “act of state terrorism.” Germany's foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said, “Such an act cannot remain without clear consequences.” His French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, called for a “firm and unified response” by the EU. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the action and said America “demands [the journalist's] immediate release.”

This editorial appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency.