A look back at the disinformation campaign surrounding the hijacking of the Ryanair plane in Minsk
Audio 03:24
A Belarusian dog handler checks the luggage of a Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS (flight number FR4978) parked on the tarmac at Minsk International Airport on May 23, 2021. © AFP
By: Sophie Malibeaux
9 mins
President Lukashenko has been under pressure from the West since the arrest of opposition journalist Roman Protassevich on board a hijacked plane at Minsk airport.
On the networks, we are witnessing a disinformation campaign orchestrated by pro-Russian circles, to justify the interception of the plane and the arrest of the opponent. Chronicle produced in partnership with Lucas Bouguet, Solène Gardré and Chadi Yahya of the EPJT, the public school of journalism in Tours.
Publicity
Two passengers on this Ryanair flight are now in the hands of the Belarusian authorities: Roman Protassevich, former editor-in-chief of the opposition media Nexta, and his partner Sofia Sapega, a law student at Vilnius University.
Faced with the repressive regime of Alexander Lukashenko, Protassevich had lived since the end of 2019 in exile between Poland and Lithuania.
Today, he is risking a lot.
Minsk accuses him of having organized "massive unrest" in the country, during the demonstrations against the re-election of Lukashenko in 2020. An arrest warrant had been issued against him in November 2020. On twitter the leader of the opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, considered that he risked the death penalty.
The pretext for the bomb threat
To justify this hijacking, the Belarusian transport ministry first mentioned an email in which Hamas claimed to have placed a bomb on the plane to get the European Union to stop supporting Israel. But this questioning of Hamas has no foundation.
The leadership of the Palestinian movement itself has denied any involvement
. President Lukashenko then turned around:
“It doesn't matter whether it is Hamas or not! "
He said, reiterating that the bomb threat justified the interception of the unit and landing in Minsk.
Accused of having acted in all illegality, the Minsk regime protests of its rightfulness, relying on so-called "confessions" of the prisoners. The day after the arrest,
a video
of Protassevich airs on the Belarusian state channel. In front of the camera, he admits having "played a role in the organization of demonstrations in Minsk". He says he is well treated and in good health.
For those close to him, it is a propaganda video, showing confessions extracted under duress. In fact, Roman Protassevich is not free to speak. The same goes for his companion who admits, under the lens of the camera, to have committed criminal acts. The sequence looks like a forced confession. The young woman appears very disturbed. The
European Humanities University
of Vilnius, where she is preparing to defend her thesis, protested strongly, denouncing a diversionary operation carried out by the Belarusian authorities. Sofia Sapega is not known for her militant actions.
“I'm sure Sofa's detention has only one reason - to put pressure on Roman. There is objectively no other reason, ”
a comrade Sofia Sapega told BBC Russia.
Overwhelming publications ... but out of context
On social networks, another diversion has appeared: photos that overwhelm Roman Protassevich, and present him as a dangerous neo-Nazi.
The images are from 2014-2015.
One of them shows it during Maidan's uprising against Russian influence in Ukraine, during the episode of the destruction of a statue of Lenin.
Which makes him neither a terrorist nor a neo-Nazi.
In 2015, its presence alongside the Azov battalion in Donbass was relayed on the networks. This paramilitary unit is engaged on the ground to push back the Russian advance in this region-east of Ukraine. It is a group with a sulphurous reputation, some members of which are photographed wearing neo-Nazi symbols, flags and ultra nationalist emblems. Finally, several pictures show the young Belarusian in combat gear. We see it in particular on the front page of a publication extolling the feats of arms of the militia. But according to certain hypotheses, relayed by the Russian state media RT, Roman Protassevich could have served as an extra for what looks like a staging, under the acronym of the Black Sun, an esoteric neo-Nazi symbol. There is no evidence that he has taken up arms.
Instrumentalisation of the opponent's past
Regarding the photos with the Azov battalion: Roman Protassevich left for this region as a journalist in 2015. Some images are more ambiguous, but we never see him clearly on the ground, bearing arms.
There are also inaccuracies: sometimes, the caption of a photo states that it is Protassevich but there is nothing to identify him.
Very often, the person in question is masked and hooded.
In addition, the smear campaign stops at this period of his life, in Ukraine, where the young Belarusian was 19 years old.
These pictures, relayed on the networks by the pro-Russian and pro-Lukashenko circles, have nothing to do with the reason for his arrest in Belarus.
They are used to divert attention from the facts alleged against the authorities in Minsk: the staging of a bomb threat justifying a hijacking, leading to the arrest of an opponent of the regime.
With these photos taken out of context, Europe finds itself accused of defending the indefensible.
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