Three Belarusian citizens have been named suspects in the 2021 Ryanair plane hijacking incident, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Friday.
In May 2021, the Belarusian air force made the Vilnius-bound passenger plane land in Minsk and arrested two opposition activists who were onboard. The Lithuanian government condemned the move.
The Polish prosecutor’s office has informed Eurojust, the European Union’s criminal justice cooperation agency, and a joint investigation team coordinated by Eurojust about it, the statement said.
On May 23, 2021, a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to change course while flying over Belarus, just before crossing into Lithuanian airspace.
The plane was grounded in Minsk, where Belarusian officers arrested opposition activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega. The plain with the remaining passengers later landed in Vilnius.
Lithuania’s authorities strongly condemned the incident, calling it an “act of state terrorism”.
International investigation
In the investigation, Polish prosecutors have charged three Belarusian nationals who, at the time of the incident, held high-ranking positions in institutions related to state security and air navigation.
According to the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office, the suspects are Leonid C., a former head of the Belarusian Air Navigation Agency, Evgenia T., the head of the air traffic control shift in Minsk, and Andrei A. M., the head of the KGB.
They are suspected of illegally restricting the liberty of 132 passengers and crew members of the plane, who are citizens of various countries, in order to intimidate the opponents the Belarusian government.
According to the Polish law enforcement authorities, the suspects are not in Poland and therefore “the prosecutor could not inform them about the suspicions against them”. The prosecutor asked the court to order the arrest in order to launch a national and international search for the suspects.
In a ruling on September 5, a Warsaw court ordered all suspects to be remanded in custody for three months.
In the coming days, the Polish prosecutor will submit a request to the court to issue European Arrest Warrants for the individuals and ask Interpol to start their search.
According to the law enforcement authorities, during the investigation of the unprecedented event, which caused a great international reaction, Lithuanian and Polish officials carried out a detailed inspection of the aircraft, analysed the aircraft equipment and the pilot’s call recordings, crew reports submitted to Ryanair, and the technical data from the black boxes.
It also examined video and audio recordings and photographs taken by passengers on the plane in Minsk, interviewed dozens of witnesses, including crew members and passengers, obtained expert reports from various disciplines, received responses from foreign countries, and gathered other relevant data.
Investigators believe the evidence suggests that Belarusian special services used a false bomb report in order to ground the plane in Minsk and carry out an intimidation mission to arrest the opposition activist Raman Pratasevich.
‘Act of a terrorist nature’
The Polish-registered plane operated by the Irish airline Ryanair, which was flying 132 people from Athens to Vilnius, was suddenly diverted to Minsk on May 23, 2021.
The pilots were forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk airport after the Minsk air traffic control centre reported a suspected explosive device on board and demanded that the plane make an immediate landing.
When the pilots complied, Belarusian officials detained Pratasevich and Sapega, while the other passengers were held for several hours in an area of the airport guarded by armed officers.
The plane was allowed to take off and return to Vilnius after almost eight hours.
According to the Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office, the fraudulent seizure of control of the aircraft constitutes an act of a terrorist nature, posing a direct threat to human life and health, and an unlawful restriction of the freedom of the crew and passengers.
Following investigations in Lithuania and Poland, an international team was set up coordinated by Eurojust. According to law enforcement, prosecutors have agreed to concentrate the pre-trial investigation in Poland and both countries will continue to cooperate.
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