Alexander Lukashenko scrambled a fighter jet to arrest just one person and “no one in the world is guaranteed safety while flying over Belarus”, Svetlana TIkhanovskaya, the exiled opposition frontrunner in last year’s presidential election, told reporters in Vilnius.
"The time for statements is over," she said. "It's obvious that Belarusians now need decisive action and assistance from the international community."
"Political prisoner [Vitold) Ashurok's death in prison, the destruction of TUT.by [news agency] and the hijacking of the plane are all the result of the impunity on which the regime bases its internal occupation."
Read more: Vilnius-bound plane grounded in Minsk, allegedly hijacked by Belarus government
"No one in the world is guaranteed safety while flying over Belarus now. Today Lukashenko personally triggered an international scandal by using military aviation against citizens of Belarus and European countries to crack down on just one person. No one is protected anymore. Anyone can be in Raman Pratasevich's place,” she said.
Earlier on Sunday, a Vilnius-bound flight from Athens was diverted to Minsk in order to detain Belarusian opposition activist and blogger Raman Pratasevich.
"A week ago, I myself took the same flight from Athens. I met Raman Pratasevich in Greece; he was photographing our working visit," Tikhanovskaya said.
"Seven days later, the regime scrambled special services and fighter jets, and organised the hijacking of a passenger plane just to take Raman hostage," she added.
According to Tikhanovskaya, Pratasevich was forced to leave Belarus in 2019 for cooperating with the opposition Telegram channel Nexta.
Read more: Ryanair: Belarus’ air traffic control diverted plane to Minsk due to ‘security threat’
"Raman is one of the people who help Belarusians find out the truth about what's happening. Therefore, Belarus' power structures have brought several criminal cases against him, and the KGB has added him to the list of individuals involved in terrorist activities," she said.
"His life is in danger now," she added.
Pratasevich, is an editor of the opposition Telegram channel Nexta, which was instrumental in guiding and helping organise the protests against Alexander Lukashenko and has since been declared a terrorist organisation by the regime. He was subsequently detained by the criminal police in Minsk.
The Belarusian opposition said they have turned to Ryanair and the International Civil Aviation Organization over the incident, asking them to launch an investigation and consider suspending Belarus' ICAO membership.
The Foreign Ministries of Greece and Ireland, and the US administration have been informed about the forced grounding of the passenger plane in Minsk.
Read more: Minsk regime hijacked plane like ‘Somali pirates’, says Belarusian opposition in Vilnius
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