Journalist on Ryanair flight forced to land in Belarus is jailed for 8 years

Lukashenko regime ordered commerical flight to land in Minsk and arrested opponent onboard

Opposition blogger and activist Roman Protasevich’s flight was ordered to land in Minsk (Reuters)

A journalist arrested after Belarus forcibly diverted his Ryanair flight was sentenced to eight years in jail on Wednesday after what opposition leaders called a “fake trial”.

Roman Protasevich, 27, was flying from Greece to Lithuania almost two years ago when Belarussian air traffic controllers ordered the pilots to land in Minsk on the false pretext of a bomb threat.

Ryanair flight FR9478, between two EU nations, was escorted to the ground by Belarus fighter jets in an unprecedented hostile act. No explosives were found on board but Mr Protasevich, a Belarusian citizen who lived in exile, was detained in an apparently pre-planned move.