Thread by @MediaSOL_BY

What is known so far about #FR4978 emergency landing. 1. It was close to #Lithuania border when someone informed about 'explosive'.
2. #Belarus authorities sent Mig-29 fighter jet to intercept the plane and force landing in #Minsk.
3. Former editor of @nexta_tv was on board
1/

4. Before the flight Raman Pratasevich (ex @nexta_tv ) wrote to his friend someone showed suspicious interest in him at the registration in #Athens airport.
5. A Russian-speaking man presumably attempted making a pic of Pratasevich's passport, then left the queue abruptly. 2/

6. Currently Raman Pratasevich works as an editor-in-chief of Belarus Golovnogo Mozga web resource which is considered 'extermist' by authorities.
7. After document check in #Minsk, he was detained,.
8. #Belarus authorities: Mig-29 will accompany #FR4978 to the border 3/

9. Ex presidential hopeful @Tsihanouskaya condemns the emergency landing of
@Ryanair #FR4978 as an act of endangering people's lives for the sake of retaliation against the independent editor.
10. @euroradio reports that #Belarus police confirm the arrest of Pratasevich 4/

11. There is still doubt whether the information about the bomb was there or the pilots used the code having to react to fighter jets sent by #Belarus authorities
12. Pratasevich is not facing death penalty in #Belarus despite initial reports but is threatened by a jail term 5/

13. The information about Mig-29 fighter jet comes from the press pool of #Belarus president #Lukashenka. They claim pilots 'asked for help' and that 'sometimes one needs a dictator to protect the lives of people in Europe'. web.telegram.org/#/im?p=@pul_1

14. Raman Pratasevich has been both an activist and journalist since high school. In 2020, he joined @nexta_tv leading live coverage of mass protests in #Belarus, which he left to become editor of @belamova. He had to hide abroad due to 'extremism' charges in #belarus #FR4978 6/

15. Initial version from the #Lithuania side was that the plane had to turn to #Minsk due to the "conflict between one passenger and the crew". Earlier, Pratasevich reported 'strange interest' to him from one of the fellow passengers in the registration line in #Athens. 7/

16. . @euroradio quotes a passenger saying they were told to 'sit and wait' and no one informed about the possible explosive.
17. Press service of Minsk National airport confirms to @euroradio 'the message about the explosive was hoax'. Time of departure of #FR4978 still unknown

18. In 2019 Pratasevich fled to #Poland after arrest of Uladzimir Chudziantsou. Chudziantsou, also linked to @nexta_tv, is serving jail time on drug and abusing minor charges. He recently was featured on #Belarus state TV as 'commentator' of the 'coup-d-etat' attempt. 8/

19. Currently, 29 journalists are behind bars in #Belarus. The latest victim of repressions is @tutby which lost access to its 3.8 mln daily visitors. Belarus is considered by @RSF_en the most dangerous place for media in #Europe. More on that: baj.by/en/analytics/r… 9/

20. Pratasevich is facing the following charges in #Belarus:
Article 130 p.3 of Criminal Code - inciting social hatred based on professional affiliation,
Article 293 - organizing mass riots
Article 342 - organizing group activities that violate public order #FR4978 10/

21. .@euroradio reminds that Pratasevich was in #Athens to accompany @Tsihanouskaya and made this picture. There she met with #Greece officials and @donaldtuskEPP Kidnapping Pratasevich who is closely linked to her office might be a 'warning signal', the outlet warns #FR4978 11/

22. #Lithuania president @GitanasNauseda reacts: 🇧🇾 regime is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Roman Protasevič urgently! 12/

23. While we're waiting for any updates about the grounded plane and more than 100 passengers, here is the backstory of @nexta_tv becoming the target of #Belarus authorities by @RFERL rferl.org/a/belarus-next… 13/

24. #Belarus Ministry of Defence confirms Mig-29 is back at its airbase in Baranavichy. "The crew on duty was tasked to accompany and, if needed, assist the civilian aircraft in landing in Minsk-2 airport. After that the crew returned to its base airfield" official says 14/

25. "Our airforce and air defense troops are always ready to react to any threat in the air but we are also always ready to help any aircraft in case of force majeure," Brigadier-General Andrei Hurtsevich says in #Belarus #DoD statement 15/

26. Raman Pratasevich's Twitter account is @pr0tez There he did not hide his trip to #Athens and promoted his photo set of @Tsihanouskaya

https://twitter.com/pr0tez/status/1393887783782072321?s=20

The post is from May 16, which means authorities had enough time to prepare for his return flight. #FR4978 16/

27. @LithuaniaMFA summons Belarus Charge d'Affairs and demands immediate release of all @Ryanair #FR4978 flight @tutby reports 17/

28. According to @donaldtuskEPP "Lukashenko has become a threat not only to his own citizens but also to international security. His act of state terrorism demands an immediate and tough reaction of all European governments and institutions." 18/

29. Pratasevich's parents tell @tutby that Raman was in Greece on holidays. Except for pictures of Tsikhanouskaya, he did not reveal publicly his stay in Greece. #Belarus KGB has Pratasevich on the list of 'people related to acts of terror'
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30. Stats about @Ruyanair #FR4978 from @GLandsbergis: In total there was 171 passenger on flight. We have information about 149 passengers. Among them - 1 AT, 1 BE, 1 BG, 1 CY, 3 DE, 1 ESP, 9 FRA, 1 GEO, 11 GR , 94 LT, 2 LV, 4 PL, 5 RO, 4BY, 3 RF, 1 GEO, 2 SYR, 1 NGA. 20/

31. Belarus State investigative committee has initiated a criminal investigation into the hoax information about an explosive on board of @Ryanair #FR4978 In this way authorities try to demonstrate they only reacted to the 'bomb' message and did not plan to land the plane. 21/

32. AviaticA telegram channel posts video of Mig-29 landing in Baranavichy. The channel belongs to professional plane spotters who claim that one can see it carrying air-to-air missiles. 22/

33. Eyewitness account as reported by @euroradio "After the plane turned to Minsk one guy was very distressed. Later we were taken out of the plane in groups of 4. He told us who he was and added "I am facing a death penalty here". He was accompanied by military all the time. 23/

34. Russia's @novaya_gazeta says that according to @Ryanair representatives they interviewed, it was Belarusian air traffic controllers who informed the pilots about the possible 'explosive'. Those controllers also asked the plane to divert to Minsk airport 24/

35. #EU officials and govts join #Lithuania in condemning the incidents - @vonderleyen @JY_LeDrian @MorawieckiM
@MFA_Austria @MiguelBergerAA
Main messages: release @Ryanair passengers & crew, allow independent investigation, free Raman. #Poland wants more sanctions. 25/

36. @nashaniva writes that @Tsihanouskaya took exactly the same flight that passed Belarusian territory one week before today's incident. Ex presidential candidate is on the #Belarus authorities wanted list. 26/

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37. Relatives and friends of @ryanar #FR4978 passengers gather in #VNO airport in #Lithuania. Some are holding slogans "I/WE am/are Raman Pratasevich". The slogan debuted in Russian during journalist Ivan Golunov trial and is used to show solidarity (same as #jesuis) 27/

Did you miss #Russia authorities reaction? We, too. @dumagovru MP @Lysakov1953 called the incident 'a brilliant operation of #Belarus secret services', @rianru reports. They have a saying in Russian that you don't need enemies with some friends... 28/

38. Boeing 737 has departed to Vilnius, #Belarus opposition claims that not only Pratasevich didn’t make it to Vilnius but two other Belarus nationals and four Russian citizens. The flight takes around 40 minutes. 29/

39. This time the plane was allowed to cross the border 30/

40. While the plane has landed in Vilnius, @HannaLiubakova reports that another #Belarusian who did not return was a friend of Raman Pratasevich who flew with him to Athens and back. 31/

41. It is possible that Raman's girlfriend is one of the #Russian citizens who are reported to stay in Minsk and she could be detained. 32/

42. A long awaited Ryanair's official statement misses the fact that some of their passengers were kidnapped from the flight. 32/

43. Lithuania starts criminal investigation 'of the plane hijacking incident' in #Belarus @tass_agency reports 33/

44. Raman’s girlfriend Safia Sapega, a student of European Humanities University in Vilnius, is confirmed to be detained in Minsk. Passengers of the Ryanair flights say Pratasevich attempted to give her his phone and laptop in order to protect them from seizure. 33/

45. State media release a tape where @Ryanair pilots say landing in Minsk was their decision. Non-state publish the extended one where ATC recommend immediate landing and quote “email” about the bomb. 34/

46. @Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary claims KGB agents were on board, calls incident „state-sponsored hijacking”, refuses to reveal more as the case is being „investigated” newstalk.com/news/oleary-fo… 35/

46. #Belarus MFA spokesperson claims the crew of @Ryanair acted responsibly putting passenger security first, suggests to view the incident from the safety-first angle. He is quoted by state media while MFA’s website has access issues from abroad. 36/

47. While some media continue writing about 4 unknown Russian citizens staying in Minsk, one is already revealed: Sofia Sapega, Pratasevich girlfriend, is a #RU citizen. No statements in her support from @mfa_russia so far while Maria Zakharova praises #BY actions on Facebook 37/

48. Can @EASA confirm this statement's validity? #Belarus media spread it as published on agency's website but no official statements can be found openly online yet. Meanwhile several flights have diverted avoiding #Belarus today, the latest is @wizzair IEV-TLL flight. 38/

49. @tutby reports: ONT state TV - @franakviacorka revealed Pratasevich's identity to #BY authorities by posting a pic from the bus. Pic was tweeted 80 mins after landing, Raman was detained more than 2.5 hrs after landing. Passengers say Raman revealed himself earlier. 39/

50. In this video interview to @EchoMskRu co-founder of @nexta_tv Stsiapan Putsila says he and Pratasevich discussed many times it was dangerous for them to fly either over #Belarus or over countries friendly to its regime. "He either miscalculated or didn't check the route". 40/

A suggestion for the new safety rules for landing in #Belarus

BREAKING: A new #explosive alert in #Belarus. @lufthansa flight #LH1487 registration stopped, passengers luggage re-checked due to what @AirportMinsk calls an "email alert from unknown persons claiming they want to commit terror act on that flight".

The Lufthansa flight #LH1487 departed after a 2-hour delay. The airport says they found no explosives but they had to re-check passengers' things as per the security protocols.

Apologies for some confusion in the latest 'bomb no bomb' tweets. So, the alleged HAMAS statement was indeed about @Ryanair Athens flight to Vilnius. The email allegedly said they were going to target participants of the Delfi Economic Forum returning home. No comment.

Two Telegram channels inform that they are verifying the information that Raman Pratasevich’s mother got about him being ‚in a critical condition’ in one of Minsk hospitals. This claim is NOT CONFIRMED yet.

#Belarus Ministry of Internal Affairs press service informs that Pratasevich is currently in the pre-trial detention center #1 in Minsk (at Valadarskaha street) and "has not filed any health-related complaint"

Pro governmental Telegram channel posts this video of Raman Pratasevich where he says he is in pre-trial detention center since yesterday, has no health issues and „continues cooperating with the investigators” #Belarus #FreePratasevich

According to Belarus 1 TV channel three passengers who stayed in Minsk were two Belarusian and one Greek nationals all of whom wanted to fly to Belarus from Vilnius. They are said to have relatives/families in Belarus. They spoke to the TV channel on video.

The text of @EUCouncil conclusions on #Belarus related to the Pratasevich’s case is available here: consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press…