Belarus 'diverts Ryanair flight to arrest journalist', opposition says

A Ryanair plane from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Belarus for several hours on Sunday, with activists saying it was done to arrest a dissident journalist on board.

European nations reacted with outrage, accusing Belarus of "state terrorism".

The ex-editor of the Nexta group, Roman Protasevich, was detained before the plane was allowed to resume its flight.

Belarus media said a MiG-29 escorted the jet to Minsk because of a bomb scare but no explosives were found.

The plane finally landed in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, its original destination, at 21:25 local time (18:25 GMT), more than seven hours after its scheduled arrival.

Arriving passengers said they had been given no information about the reason for the abrupt diversion to Minsk. One said Mr Protasevich looked "super scared. I looked directly to his eyes and it was very sad".

 A photo shows a Ryanair passenger plane from Athens, Greece, that was diverted to Minsk.

Another, Monika Simkiene, told AFP news agency: "He just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty."

The ex-editor of the Nexta group, Roman Protasevich, was detained before the plane was allowed to resume its flight.

Belarus media said a MiG-29 escorted the jet to Minsk because of a bomb scare but no explosives were found.

The plane finally landed in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, its original destination, at 21:25 local time (18:25 GMT), more than seven hours after its scheduled arrival.

Arriving passengers said they had been given no information about the reason for the abrupt diversion to Minsk. One said Mr Protasevich looked "super scared. I looked directly to his eyes and it was very sad".

Another, Monika Simkiene, told AFP news agency: "He just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty."

Agence France-Presse