'I confess...': Detained Belarus critic appears in video as fury mounts over 'hijacking'

Roman Protasevich, the operator of a Telegram channel who was on the diverted Ryanair flight and was detained in Minsk, says he is cooperating and admitting to charges of organising protests in a video circulated by state TV on May 24. Protasevich, a 26-year-old opposition activist, was arrested after a passenger flight from Athens to Vilnius was diverted while in Belarusian airspace over a supposed bomb threat. A MiG-29 fighter jet escorted the passenger aircraft to Minsk because of a bomb scare, however, no explosives were found, prompting a global outcry to Minsk's forced landing of the aircraft.

Now, a clip, which appears to have been filmed on a phone camera, shows Protasevich saying, “I am in Detention Centre no 1 in Minsk. I can say that I have no health problems, including with my heart or any other organs”. In the video, Protasevich can be seen wearing a black hoodie and sitting behind a table in a nondescript room. He is seen fidgeting with his hands as he is making the statement and some dark markings are also visible on his forehead. 

Protasevich said, “The attitude of employees towards me is as correct as possible and according to the law. I continue cooperating with investigators and am confessing to having organised mass unrest in the city of Minsk”. 

Until recently, Protasevich ran the Nexta telegram channels that helped mobilise protesters during the demonstrations that gripped Belarus for months after a disputed election last August. The demonstrators demanded the resignation of Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for over two decades and secured a landslide victory in an election his opponents say was rigged. A violent crackdown by the Belarusian authorities was released, detaining thousands. 

Ryanair flight diversion 

Meanwhile, a Ryanair flight en route from Athens to Vilnius (Lithuania) was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk, Belarus. According to the Russian news agency, Roman Protasevich was detained during the stopover at the airport. It was carrying 171 passengers and was abruptly rerouted to the Belarusian capital shortly before it was about to exit the country’s airspace. 

However, then Belarusian air traffic controllers notified its pilots of “a potential security threat onboard” and directed the plane to divert to Minsk, the Ireland-based airline said in a statement. Belarusian officials said a MiG-29 fighter jet had been scrambled to escort the airliner to Minsk following a bomb scare, which they later conceded was “false”. Six people who boarded the flight in Athens were not on the plane when it arrived in Vilnius including Protasevich and his girlfriend, Russian citizen Sofia Sapega. Both Protasevich and Sapega were detained. The incident led to global condemnation. 

(Image: Twitter)