On May 23, a Ryanair plane urgently landed at the Belarusian airport due to reports of mining.
The Palestinian movement Hamas has officially denied its involvement in the threats to blow up the Ryanair plane forcibly landed in Minsk, which was en route from Athens to Vilnius and on board of which was the creator of the Telegram channel NEXTA Roman Protasevich. This was stated on Monday, May 24, by the official representative of Hamas, Fawzi Barhoum, as quoted by Reuters.
“We do not resort to these methods, which are used by dubious organizations that seek to demonize Hamas and thwart the world’s sympathy for our Palestinian people and their legitimate resistance,” a Hamas official said.
Earlier in the day, the director of the aviation department of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Belarus, Artem Sikorsky, said that an email from the Minsk airport allegedly received a message on behalf of the soldiers of the Palestinian group Hamas about the mining of the plane.
“We, the soldiers of Hamas, demand that Israel cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. We demand that the European Union withdraw its support for Israel in this war. It is known that the participants of the Delfi Economic Forum are returning home on flight 4978. This plane has a bomb planted in it. If you do not comply with our requirements, the bomb will explode on May 23 over Vilnius, “ the journalists quoted a message that allegedly arrived at the Minsk airport.
Recall that on May 23, a Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing in Minsk after reports of mining. The creator of the NEXTA Telegram channel, Roman Protasevich, who was on board, was detained by the Belarusian authorities. The head of international diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrel, demanded an international investigation into the incident with the forced landing of the aircraft.
In Belarus, Protasevich is accused of creating an extremist group and calling for mass riots after the presidential elections in August 2020. He could face up to 15 years in prison.
The actions of the Belarusian authorities have caused the condemnation of the international community and may become a reason for the introduction of a new package of sanctions against Minsk.
