Belarusian Journalist Seized After Ryanair Jet 'Forcibly' Diverted To Minsk
- By Current Time and
- Neil Bowdler
A Belarusian journalist has been detained by police after the commercial passenger aircraft in which he was traveling from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Minsk due to a purported bomb threat. Raman Pratasevich was taken away by police shortly after his Ryanair flight landed in the Belarusian capital. Pratasevich was a key administrator of the Telegram channel NEXTA Live, which covered the protests that broke out in Belarus following the country's disputed presidential election last August. He spoke to Current Time just after the protests began.