Belarus Lukashenko Attracts Flake Over Journalist Arrest

Belarus has crossed all lines of control as it actually diverted a plane to go on to arrest a journalist.  The country has been constantly criticized for lack of freedom of speech and expression, and crushing the spirit of free press as well.

 

The incident has been called an ‘unprecedented act of terrorism’.  Belarus actually forced a commercial plane full of civilians to divert and land in order the government could arrest an opposing journalist.

It all began when Roman Protasevich, an opposition journalist who ran the popular social media Telegram channel Nexta was being tracked and kept under surveillance while he was travelling from Athens to Lithuania.

 

Apparently, the scene has been described inspired from a Hollywood movie literally. As soon as the plane entered Belarusian airspace, there was commotion on the plane. The people who had been taking photos of the journalist seemed to get into a purposeful scuffle with the crew of the plane insisting that there was an explosive device onboard. A fighter jet then escorted the plane to Minsk airport, at which point officials boarded the plane and arrested Protasevich.

 

As the plane landed and was searched, no explosive device was found onboard.  Administration of Ryanair was left quite foxed. Later, it was declared by the Belarus government controlled media services that that the fighter jet was ordered to be escorted the Minsk airport under the orders of Belarus’ strongman president Alexander Lukashenko. For months together, people of Belarus have been revolting against this re-election and protesting against the meddled election procedure which has seen this “Europe’s last dictator,” to have come to power again.

 

 Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki took to Twitter calling this ‘as an act of terrorism which will not go unpunished.’ Other European leaders have already protested against this sheer arrogant and blatant misuse of power.

In his tweet, Morawiecki  has also mentioned that he is going to push for fresh sanctions against Belarus in an already scheduled European Council meeting next week. Lithuania, a member of the European Union and the country where Protasevich is based, called on the Euroepan Union and NATO to take action against what it described as an “unprecedented attack against the international community.”