Poland to charge three Belarusians for diverting Ryanair flight in 2021

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish prosecutors have enough evidence to charge three Belarusian citizens over the forced landing in Minsk in 2021 of a civilian airliner carrying an opposition journalist, who was then arrested, Polish authorities said on Friday.

In what some EU leaders at the time called a hijacking, the Ryanair flight from Athens to Lithuania was diverted to the capital of Belarus escorted by a MiG-29 fighter jet. On landing, dissident Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega were taken into custody.

The plane was registered in Poland.

In a statement, Polish prosecutors said they had decided to bring charges against three Belarusians they identified as: Leonid C. (former director of the Belarusian air navigation agency), Yevgenia T. (head of the air traffic control shift in Minsk) and Andrey AM (head of the KGB).

Polish law does not allow the publication of the last names of people facing criminal charges.

The charges relate to taking control of the Ryanair flight by providing the flight crew with false information about an alleged explosive device on board the aircraft, they added.

"This resulted in the unlawful deprivation of liberty of 132 people on board the aircraft, including citizens of the Republic of Poland."

Prosecutors said the suspects were not in Poland. Arrest warrants were issued and prosecutors said they would file a court motion to issue European Arrest Warrants and request Interpol to initiate a search with a red notice.

The European Union banned Belarus carriers from flying over its territory or having access to its airports as part of sanctions imposed after the 2021 incident.

Protasevich was sentenced to eight years in prison in May 2023 for offences including inciting terrorism, organising mass disturbances and slandering Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, but pardoned later the same month, Belarusian state media reported. Sapega was also pardoned in June 2023.

(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; editing by Alex Richardson)