MINSK, May 26. /TASS/. The Ryanair plane that made an emergency landing in Minsk on May 23 had a terrorist on board, and it was no secret to those abroad, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenkos said Wednesday.
"There was a terrorist on the plane, and it was known far beyond the Republic of Belarus," Lukashenko told lawmakers, according to Belarusian TV.
The actions taken by Belarus in this situation were completely correct, Lukashenko believes.
"What were we supposed to do? Especially, amid the cascade of bomb threats to our facilities? In any case, we reacted adequately to the information we had," the president noted.
"Hamas or no Hamas, it does not matter whatsoever today," Lukashenko said, referring to the bomb scare on the airliner, said to have been received from the radical Palestinian movement Hamas. "The aircraft’s crew had time to make a decision. We had 123 passengers from various countries and six crewmembers in the air in danger," the head of state disclosed.
He stated that when making decisions, he focused on the security of the country.
"If the plane had been booby-trapped with a bomb, and the terrorists wanted to blow it up, we might not have been able to help. But I could not allow the plane to fall on the heads of our people. So, don’t blame me, I acted legally, protecting my people," Lukashenko emphasized. "There is only one course of action in cases like these, an immediate landing and rescue of the people."
Ryanair bomb scare investigation
Lukashenko pointed out that Belarus invited all international experts to investigate the plane incident.
"But we will not drop to our knees and make excuses, because we have nothing to be sorry for," the president insisted. "We are also aware that our accusers are not interested in objective information. They don’t need objective information. They have kick-started the flywheel," the president said.
On May 23, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight that took off from Athens was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a reported bomb threat. A Mikoyan MiG-29 jet was scrambled to escort the plane. The bomb threat came up empty after the aircraft had been inspected and no explosives were found. The Investigative Committee of Belarus had opened a criminal case over charges of intentionally false bomb threat.
Later, Minsk disclosed that the plane carried Nexta Telegram channel (deemed extremist in Belarus) co-founder Roman Protasevich. He was detained by law enforcement agents. Russian national Sofia Sapega was taken into custody with him and placed into a detention facility with the State Security Committee (KGB) for two months. Following the incident, some countries started either suspending air service with Belarus or recommending their airlines avoid Belarusian airspace.