Outrage as Ryanair plane “hijacked” by Belarus to arrest dissident journalist – BBC News

Belarus has been accused of hijacking a European passenger plane and engaging in “state terrorism”, after it forced a Ryanair flight to perform an emergency landing in Minsk and arrested an opposition blogger, who is critical of the country’s authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko.

The Ryanair plane had been flying from Greece to Lithuania when it was diverted to the Belarusian capital, where the journalist Roman Protasevich was detained by police. State media in Belarus said the plane was forced to land because of a bomb scare.

There’s been a chorus of condemnation across Europe. The British foreign secretary said the action by the Belarusian authorities would have “serious implications”.

Mishal Husain presents BBC News at Ten reporting by diplomatic correspondent James Landale.

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