Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday condemned Belarus for forcing down a civilian
airliner over its airspace in order to arrest a dissident on the flight.Faking a bomb thre
at, Belarus used fighter aircraft to force down a Ryanair flight and arrest journalist Ram
an Pratasevich.“The United States strongly condemns the forced diversion of a flight betwe
en two EU member states and the subsequent removal and arrest of journalist Raman Pratasev
ich in Minsk,” Blinken said in a statement. “We demand his immediate release.”President Al
exander Lukashenka of Belarus has in recent months faced increasing opposition to his iron
-fisted rule, leading to mass arrests and the departure of some opposition leaders from th
e country. He has been in power since 1994 in the former Soviet republic.“This shocking ac
t,” Blinken said, “perpetrated by the Lukashenka regime endangered the lives of more than
120 passengers, including U.S. citizens. Initial reports suggesting the involvement of the
Belarusian security services and the use of Belarusian military aircraft to escort the pl
ane are deeply concerning and require full investigation.”Blinken’s statement followed cri
ticism of Lukashenka — also rendered as Lukashenko — by the American ambassador to Belarus
, as well as a number of congressional leaders.“Lukashenka and his regime today showed aga
in its contempt for international community and its citizens,” U.S. Ambassador Julie Fishe
r tweeted.Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) joined lawmakers from Europe in issuing a condemnatio
n.Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was joined by lawmakers w
ho hold similar positions in the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Pola
nd and the United Kingdom. “We, the chairs of our respective national parliament’s Foreign
Affairs Committees, condemn unequivocally the threat of violence used against a civilian
aircraft in the skies over Belarus,” they said.Menendez and the others condemned Belarus n
ot only for the act of arresting Protasevich but also for the harm it could have caused ev
eryone on the flight, which was headed from Greece to Lithuania. “This reckless act put th
e passengers and crew in grave danger. It is a reminder of the illegitimacy of the adminis
tration claiming authority in Minsk,” they said.They urged the International Civil Aviatio
n Organization to keep planes from flying over Belarus and pushed NATO and the EU to sanct
ion Belarus.Other members of Congress blasted Lukashenka.“To arrest an activist for simply
exposing the truth of the regime-sanctioned police brutality against anti-government prot
ests in Belarus is abhorrent,” said Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the leading Republican o
n the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “To force an Irish aircraft with nearly 200 innocen
t civilians to land in order to make that arrest is an egregious affront to democratic soc
ieties around the world.”Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said this episode “should be the final
straw” that leads the international community to attempt to force Lukashenka out, saying “
every sanction on the books needs to be used” to apply pressure.“This was not only the hij
acking of an airliner but an unprecedented violation of international aviation rules,” Smi
th said in a statement.Other European leaders condemned Belarus’ action. Polish Prime Mini
ster Mateusz Morawiecki said the episode was “an unprecedented act of state terrorism,” an
d European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the action “outrageous and ill
egal.”One of the other passengers on the flight told The Associated Press that Pratasevich
expressed a fear for his life.“I saw this Belarusian guy with girlfriend sitting right be
hind us,” passenger Marius Rutkauskas said after the plane arrived in Lithuania. “He freak
ed out when the pilot said the plane is diverted to Minsk. He said there’s death penalty a
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