MINSK, October 2. /TASS/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko greenlighted a meeting for a CNN correspondent with detained Roman Protasevich, SB Belarus daily reported early on Saturday quoting Lukashenko as saying in an interview with CNN.
"Speaking about the detained oppositionist, Protasevich…, we may grant you an opportunity to meet and speak with him. You should not be asking me questions about this issue. He will tell you everything," the Belarusian president told a CNN correspondent.
On May 23, 2021, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight took off from Athens and was forced to make an emergency landing in the Belarusian capital of Minsk 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 landed. News later emerged that Roman Protasevich, wanted in Belarus as a co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, which the Belarusian authorities recognized as an extremist entity, had been among the flight’s passengers.
He was detained by Belarusian law enforcement agents together with Russian national Sofia Sapega. Following the incident, the European Union barred Belarusian air companies from operating flights to EU airports and using the European Union’s airspace, and recommended that European air carriers should avoid Belarusian airspace.