DISINFO: Lukashenka had the right to arrest Pratasevich
SUMMARY
Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich was a threat to national security. Therefore, from a purely judicial point of view, Alyaksandr Lukashenka had the right to force the plane with him on board to land in order to arrest him. The West criticised him for that. However, there have been similar cases before. Bolivian President Evo Morales’s plane was forced to land in Vienna in 2013, and Ukraine forcefully returned a plane with opposition blogger Armen Martirosyan on board in 2016. But the West did not criticise those actions.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring manipulative narrative from pro-Kremlin media trying to justify unrecognised Belarusian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s oppressive measures against the opposition, as well as depicting the recent forceful landing of a plane with an opposition journalist on board as a matter of national security.
In reality, Lukashenko’s order to forcefully land the plane with Raman Pratasevich on board and later arrest him was an illegal action from the point of view of international law. On 23 May 2021, a Belarusian MiG-29 fighter aircraft was scrambled to intercept the Ryanair plane en route from Greece to Lithuania and made it land in the Belarusian capital Minsk after ground control informed the crew of a bomb on board. The bomb alert later proved to be false. The emergency landing of the plane was an operation by Belarusian secret services to arrest Raman Pratasevich (whose name and surname are sometimes spelt as Roman Protasevich). Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, who were on board, were detained during a security check.
As for Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ukrainian opposition blogger Armen Martirosyan, the planes with them on board were really returned to the places of departure in 2013 and 2016, respectively. However, these cases cannot be compared with that of Pratasevich because no military force was involved in them. Unlike Pratasevich, who was imprisoned and probably tortured, their lives were not in danger.
The European Union condemned Belarus for the forceful landing of the plane and the detention of Pratasevich. The High Representative called in a declaration on 24 May 2021 for the immediate release of Raman Pratasevich. This was followed by a European Council statement, in which the EU leaders called for targeted individual and economic sanctions as well as to ban overflight of EU airspace by Belarusian airlines and prevent access to EU airports of flights operated by these.
Raman Pratasevich was a co-founder of the NEXTA telegram channel, which played a major role in last year’s protests against the falsified results of the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus. The Belarusian security service (KGB) had placed Pratasevich on the list of terrorists for coordinating anti-Lukashenko protests.
Belarusian law enforcers later issued a video, in which Pratasevich said he was being treated well and that he had no health problems. He also confessed to organising mass riots. However, his father said he had been beaten up and forced to confess. If found guilty, he may face up to 15 years in jail. Some terrorism charges may lead to capital punishment, according to Belarus’ legislation. Belarus is the only European country where the death penalty is still in use.
Read more about the Pratasevich case.