Polish prosecutors will press charges against three citizens in connection with this, a court confirmed on Friday.
On May 23, 2021, Ryanair flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius was diverted to Minsk due to an alleged bomb threat while in Belarusian airspace and was escorted by a MiG-29 fighter jet. The plane was registered in
After landing in the Belarusian capital, two passengers, disaffected Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich and his Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega, were arrested. No one was injured. The incident sparked international outrage.
Who will be charged?
In a statement on Friday, Polish prosecutors said they had gathered enough evidence to bring charges against three Belarusian officials whose surnames they did not specify in accordance with Polish law.
Leonid C., former director of the Belarusian Air Navigation Agency; Yevgenia T., air traffic control manager in Minsk that day. And Andrey AM, head of the Belarusian KGB secret service, is accused of taking control of the flight by giving false information to the pilot about an alleged explosive device on board.
“This resulted in the unlawful deprivation of liberty of 132 people on board the plane, including citizens of the Republic of Poland,” the court’s statement read.
Polish newspaper also on Friday Gazeta Wyborcza Audio extracts from the Minsk airport control tower were cited, secretly recorded by an air traffic controller who later fled to Poland and handed over the files to authorities.
An arrest warrant has been issued but, given that the suspects are not in Poland, prosecutors said they would file for a European arrest warrant and request a “red notice” search from Interpol.
According to Interpol, a Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant, but “a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal proceedings.”
What happened to Pratasevich?
Pratasevich was indicted in May 2023 for crimes including inciting terrorism, organizing mass disturbances and slandering Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
As was Sapega a month later.
from the bloc’s airspace and airports, as part of restrictions imposed following the incident
mf/nm (Reuters, EFE, AFP)
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