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Cypriot national on hijacked plane is well, in Vilnius

vilnius

The Cypriot national who was on the Ryanair plane en route to Vilnius, Lithuania, that was forced by Belarusian authorities to land in Minsk on Sunday to arrest a journalist also on board, is well, authorities said on Monday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Demetris Samuel told state broadcaster CyBC that the Cypriot is well and was currently in Vilnius.

Samuel said that this incident had “jeopardised civil aviation safety.”

“It is condemnable, the international community needs to address this,” Samuel said.

The Ryanair plane was flying from Athens to Vilnius when, a few minutes prior to entering Lithuanian airspace, it was diverted to Minsk, Belarus.

Belarusian authorities scrambled a fighter jet and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force the plane land and detain Roman Protasevich, who was wanted in Belarus on extremism charges and stands accused of organising mass riots and of inciting social hatred. Protasevich denies these allegations.

After seven hours on the ground, the plane departed and finally landed in Vilnius where Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte was waiting to meet the passengers.

“I thought it was some sort of exercise,” Nikos Petalis, a Greek national also on board told Greece’s state broadcaster Ert after he realised the plane was to land in Minsk.

He said that a few minutes before arriving in Vilnius, passengers realised that the plane had changed its course and were told they had to land in Minsk and that they would be given more information soon.

“We were concerned, why Minsk? We were right there (Vilnius),” he said.

He added that the passengers had noticed two fighter jets escorting their plane, one on each side of the plane, while landing and when they took off for Vilnius.

According to Petalis, he saw Protasevich getting nervous after being informed by a flight attendant they were probably going to land in Minsk.

“I did not know he was a journalist, but from his rection, I realised there was something wrong,” Petalis said. He added that in Minsk, some officers searched Protasevich outside the bus they were holding the passengers in and then put him in the same bus as them. Some high-rank officers then arrived and took Protasevich, he said.

He also said that some other people, reportedly Russians, who were on the same flight did not board the plane when they departed from Minsk to Vilnius raising suspicions that they were part of the arrest operation. He said that two fighter jets escorting the plane left as soon as the vessel reached the Lithuanian airspace.

Petalis said that when they landed in Vilnius, the Lithuanian prime minister went on board and told them to be patient and that they would soon be able to reach their destinations.

On Sunday evening, the foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides spoke with his Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis, who briefed him on the situation after the Ryanair plane finally landed in Vilnius.

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said on Monday passengers and crew were frightened and were held under armed guard.

“I think it was very frightening for the crew, for the passengers who were held under armed guard, had their bags searched, when it was clear it appears that the intent … was to remove a journalist and his travelling companion,” O’Leary told Irish Newstalk radio.

“We believe there was also some KGB agents offloaded off the aircraft as well.”

O’Leary described the diversion as “state-sponsored hijacking.”

He said his airline would take guidance from European authorities on flying in Belarusian airspace, but that Ryanair had few flights crossing Belarus, and it would be a “very minor adjustment” to fly over Poland instead.

The move by the Belarusian authorities caused outrage in Europe and the United States.

The incident is expected to be discussed by the EU leaders at the scheduled special meeting of the European Council taking place in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday.

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