U.S. demands investigation into Ryanair flight incident
<p> MINSK, May 24 - PrimePress. The United States has called for an international investigation into the forced grounding of a Ryanair flight in Minsk. The White House is currently discussing the matter with international institutions, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing on May 24. </p> <p> </p> <p> Belarus used fighter aircraft on May 23 to force down a Ryanair flight on its way from Athens to Vilnius under the guise of a bomb threat, which subsequently proved to be false, and arrested dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, who was listed as a terrorist by the Belarusian authorities and declared wanted by the state. He is charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus. Under one of the articles, Protasevich is charged with masterminding mass riots. </p> <p> </p> <p> The White House condemned the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus for the "ongoing harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists simply for doing their job," Psaki added. </p> <p> </p> <p> In her words, it has been a shocking move by Belarus’ authorities to divert a flight between two EU countries just to detain a journalist. “It is a blatant challenge by the regime to international peace and security. We demand an immediate, transparent and credible international investigation,” Psaki said. </p> <p> </p> <p> In her words, the White House administration is also in touch with its bilateral partners and through multilateral channels, including NATO, the United Nations, the European Union and the OSCE. The U.S. is not ready to announce the outcomes of those consultations, </p> <p> Psaki said. End </p>
2021-05-25
Primepress
U.S. demands investigation into Ryanair flight incident
MINSK, May 24 - PrimePress. The United States has called for an international investigation into the forced grounding of a Ryanair flight in Minsk. The White House is currently discussing the matter with international institutions, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing on May 24.
Belarus used fighter aircraft on May 23 to force down a Ryanair flight on its way from Athens to Vilnius under the guise of a bomb threat, which subsequently proved to be false, and arrested dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, who was listed as a terrorist by the Belarusian authorities and declared wanted by the state. He is charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus. Under one of the articles, Protasevich is charged with masterminding mass riots.
The White House condemned the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus for the "ongoing harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists simply for doing their job," Psaki added.
In her words, it has been a shocking move by Belarus’ authorities to divert a flight between two EU countries just to detain a journalist. “It is a blatant challenge by the regime to international peace and security. We demand an immediate, transparent and credible international investigation,” Psaki said.
In her words, the White House administration is also in touch with its bilateral partners and through multilateral channels, including NATO, the United Nations, the European Union and the OSCE. The U.S. is not ready to announce the outcomes of those consultations,
Psaki said. End