"Proof that no pressure was exerted": the Ministry of Transport of Belarus published a transcript of the negotiations with Ryanair

The Aviation Department of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Belarus has published a transcript of the dispatchers' negotiations with the crew of the Ryanair aircraft, which on May 23 urgently sat down at the Minsk airport, RIA Novosti reports.

According to the agency, the dispatcher told the pilot that the Minsk airport security service had received information about a bomb on board, which could be detonated when the airliner was over Vilnius.

For some time, the pilot clarified where the information came from, to which he received an answer that the special service had received a corresponding letter by e-mail.

The dispatcher also recommended the crew to land the plane at the Minsk airport.

After that, the pilot clarified whose recommendation it was - an airline, an airport of departure or an airport of arrival.

“This is our recommendation,” the Belarusian dispatcher said.

As noted by TASS, the department said that they published a transcript as evidence that no pressure was put on the decision of the crew, and no threats were used.

They added that they invite international structures to take part in an impartial investigation of the incident.

“To study the circumstances of the incident, the Aviation Department invited representatives of ICAO, IATA, EASA, as well as representatives of the civil aviation authorities of the EU and the United States,” the statement said.

Let us remind you that on May 23, a Ryanair plane on a flight from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at the Minsk national airport.

At the time, the aviation department of the Ministry of Transport of Belarus reported that a message from the Hamas movement had been sent to the e-mail of the Minsk National Airport from the electronic mail, which contained the threat of mining the airliner.

To accompany the aircraft, a MiG-29 fighter of the Armed Forces of the republic was raised.

Later, a representative of the Palestinian movement denied any involvement in the incident.

No explosives were found during the inspection of the aircraft.

Investigative Committee of Belarus opened criminal proceedings on the fact of “knowingly false reporting of danger under Part 1 of Art.

340 of the Criminal Code ".

After landing, the founder of the NEXTA Telegram channel recognized as extremist in the republic, Roman Protasevich, who was believed to be involved in terrorist activities in Belarus, was detained.

Sophia Sapega was detained together with him. 

On May 25, Sapega was arrested for two months.

This was reported to RT by lawyer Alexander Filanovich.

The information about the arrest was also confirmed by the girl's father. 

“Preventive measure for two months.

The place of detention is the KGB pre-trial detention center, ”the lawyer said.

According to him, Sophia feels fine, her relatives turned to the consulate to prepare documents at their request.

As the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said, the Russian consul was allowed to meet with the detained Russian woman.

As noted by Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry expects that the meeting will take place in the near future.

International response to the aircraft incident

Immediately after the incident, a number of European countries demanded that the Belarusian authorities release Protasevich, and also announced their intention to introduce restrictive measures against the republic.

In particular, the leaders of the EU member states instructed the governments of the EU countries to take the necessary measures to ban flights of Belarusian airlines over the territory of the Union, and also recommended that European air carriers refuse to fly in the airspace of Belarus.

A number of airlines have already abandoned flights over Belarus.

In addition, the EU summit called for new sanctions against Minsk.

Also, US President Joe Biden instructed his administration to "develop appropriate options" to prosecute those involved in the emergency landing of the Ryanair aircraft.

In turn, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that there was no data on Russia's connection with the incident with the plane in Minsk.

Later, a statement was made in the White House.

Meanwhile, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry reported that the head of the department, Vladimir Makei, had discussed the situation around the incident with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone.

"The parties exchanged views on the situation around the incident with the Ryanair aircraft and stressed the need for its comprehensive and objective investigation by the competent expert bodies," the message says.