The foreign ministers of the G7 member states condemned the detention in Belarus of the founder of the Nexta Telegram channel recognized as extremist in the country, Roman Protasevich, according to a joint statement published on the website of the British Foreign Ministry.
“We, the foreign ministers of the G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Great Britain and the United States – as well as the representative of the European Union, in the strongest terms condemn the unprecedented action of the Belarusian authorities to detain the independent journalist Roman Protasevich and his companion Sophia Sapega after forced to land in Minsk on May 23 flight FR4978”, – said in a statement.
According to the foreign ministers, the actions of the Belarusian authorities threatened the safety of passengers and crew of the plane.
“It was also a serious attack on the rules of operation of civil aviation. All our countries and our citizens depend on the actions of each country to fulfill the obligations of the Chicago Convention, and the civil aircraft must fly freely and safely. We urge ICAO to urgently respond to this challenge by its rules and standards”, – the foreign ministers said in a statement.
The ministers also saw in the actions of the Belarusian authorities a threat to the freedom of the media.
“These actions also constitute a serious attack on freedom of the media. We demand the immediate release of Roman Protasevich, as well as other journalists and political prisoners held in Belarus, without any conditions. We will intensify our efforts, including the introduction of further sanctions, to prosecute Belarusian authorities”, – the document says.
The Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius on May 23 urgently landed at the Minsk airport due to a message about mining, which was not subsequently confirmed. This board flew Protasevich, he was detained while checking documents on previously initiated criminal cases against him on several articles, including the article “organization of mass riots.” He could face up to 15 years in prison.
Belarus responded by saying that the message about the mining of the plane had been sent to the e-mail of the Minsk airport. The commander of the crew himself decided to land in Minsk, there can be no question of any coercion or turn of the aircraft, said the commander of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Forces Igor Golub. On May 25, the Aviation Department of the Ministry of Transport of Belarus published a transcript of the conversation with the Belarusian dispatcher of the Ryanair pilot. The decryption does not contain any threats from the dispatcher to the crew.