US prosecutors have charged four Belarusian government officials with hijacking a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius last year that forced it to land in Minsk to arrest a Belarusian journalist.
The indictments were filed by federal prosecutors in New York and concern air traffic controllers in Belarus.
In a statement, prosecutor Damian Williams said: “Since the inception of aviation, countries around the world have worked together to ensure that civilian flights are safe. The defendants destroyed this constant by changing the course of an airplane to advance the dark plan of suppressing reaction and freedom of speech”.
According to the Irish airline, air traffic controllers told the pilots of that flight on May 23 that there was a bomb threat, forcing it to land in the Belarusian capital. At the same time, the Belarusian Air Force lifted a MIG-29 to force the pilots to obey the command of the control tower.
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The accused are two staff members of the Air Traffic Control Service in Belarus and two state security officials, whose full identities are not known to prosecutors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office described the four defendants as “fugitives,” and its contact with the Belarusian embassy and representatives of the former Soviet republic at the UN in New York remained unanswered.
The American officials emphasize that they have jurisdiction in the case as among the passengers of the flight from Athens were also American citizens.
