New twist in the case of the journalist arrested in Belarus on Sunday after the hijacking of his Ryanair flight on the grounds of a bomb threat.
The UN civil aviation agency announced an investigation on Thursday, and Roman Protassevich's parents appealed for help to the international community to get him released.
As for Belarusian President Lukashenko, he is traveling to Russia this Friday.
With this investigation decided in an emergency meeting, it is for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to "understand whether there has been an international violation of aviation by an ICAO member state. ".
The United Nations agency thus responded to a call from European members of the UN Security Council and the United States, who are stepping up pressure on the Belarusian regime.
But Minsk has in this case the unwavering support of its Russian ally, whose foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said Thursday that the West must "stop demonizing those it does not like".
Lukashenko on the road to Putin
The Kremlin is sticking to its position expressed on Wednesday through its spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, namely that there is no reason to doubt the explanations of its Belarusian neighbor.
The latter claims to have diverted the Ryanair plane only because of a bomb threat, without knowing that the opposition journalist Roman Protassevich was there.
The journalist Roman Protasevich must be released after today's 'chilling' forced landing of his Ryanair flight by the Belarusian authorities # Belarus #JournalismIsNotACrimehttps: //t.co/CKWZrPxxNh
- News From Amnesty (@NewsFromAmnesty) May 23, 2021
Under pressure from the West, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is due to meet in Russia this Friday with his ally, Vladimir Putin. He is to be welcomed by his Russian counterpart in the latter's summer residence in Sochi, on the shores of the Black Sea, in the south of the country. Officially, this interview aims to talk about "integration" between the two former Soviet republics, a project that Moscow has long cherished, and their "common projects, especially economic", writes the Kremlin website.
Vladimir Poutine will perhaps not be indifferent, however, to threats from Brussels of sanctions against Minsk which could affect the transit of Russian gas through Belarus.
Minsk is indeed very economically dependent on its Russian “big brother”.
It derives an important source of income from this transit position between Russia and the European Union.
But for the time being, with the support of Moscow, Alexander Lukashenko is showing no sign of wanting to give in to increasing pressure, especially after the announcement of an investigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization on Thursday.
"Help me free my son"
Roman Protassevich's mother Natalia spoke at a press conference in Warsaw, Poland.
"I want you to convey our demand all over the world, to government officials, to EU countries, to EU leaders, to US leaders: I cry out, I beg you, help me release my son, ”she said.
With her husband, they have been exiled in the Polish capital since the crackdown launched in Belarus last year.
They have had no contact with their son since his arrest at Minsk airport on Sunday after the hijacking of his Athens-Vilnius flight.
Her Russian friend, Sofia Sapega, who was on board the Ryanair plane, was also arrested.
At 26, Roman Protassevich faces a heavy prison sentence.
Belarusian authorities accuse him of having organized “massive unrest” during the 2020 protests against the re-election of Alexander Lukashenko.
Indignation of Westerners
The foreign ministers in London condemned "with the greatest firmness" the arrest of the couple and demanded their "immediate and unconditional release".
The mobilization in favor of the journalist's release is not weakening.
Reporters Without Borders organized a demonstration on Thursday on the border between Lithuania and Belarus, brandishing portraits of 21 journalists imprisoned in the former Soviet republic.
Dozens of meters behind us, it's #Belarus, whose government jails its generation of young journalists and amplifies repression.
We protested at the border to express our solidarity with #RamanPratasevich and at least 20 other reporters arbitrarily in jail #PressFreedom @RSF_inter pic.twitter.com/J98qk4MEVY
- Christophe Deloire (@cdeloire) May 27, 2021
Lukashenko sparked outrage among Westerners by sending a fighter plane to hijack Protassevich's flight.
The Twenty-Seven retaliated by denying Belarusian airlines access to the EU and asking European carriers not to overfly its airspace.
The hijacking of the Ryanair plane by the Belarus regime is an attack on democracy.
An attack on freedom of expression.
An attack on European sovereignty.
Roman Pratasevich & Sofia Sapega must be released immediately.
pic.twitter.com/r2rxBSnzer
- Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 25, 2021
By hijacking the plane, "the Belarusian regime has committed an act of state terrorism and must accept responsibility for these actions," Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Thursday, whose country in turn banned its space air to Belarusian planes.
On Thursday, the Austrian company Austrian Airlines announced that it had canceled a flight that was to link Vienna to Moscow, failing to receive the green light from Russia for a change of route intended to avoid Belarusian airspace.
