Passenger Marius Rutkauskas said he was in the Belarusian capital a few hours after the plane arrived in Vilnius.

Rutkaskas said: “We sat for an hour after landing. Then they began to release the passengers and grabbed the two men. We never saw them again.”

The flight tracker website shows that the plane was about 10 kilometers away from the Lithuanian border when it was diverted. There are conflicting statements about this move.

The press service of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the President himself ordered a MiG-29 fighter jet to accompany the passenger plane after learning of the bomb threat. Air Force Deputy Commander Andrei Gurtsevich (Andrei Gurtsevich) said that the crew decided to land in Minsk.

But Ryanair said in a statement that the Belarusian air traffic control department instructed the aircraft to be transferred to the capital.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called the incident a “state-sponsored terrorist act.” He said that the European Council will discuss the case on Monday, and he will propose to ban Belarusian aircraft from leaving EU airports and impose “serious sanctions” on the Lukashenko government.

Gabrielius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, said: “Belarusian airspace is absolutely unsafe for any commercial flight. Not only the European Union but the international community should consider it unsafe. Because now, this kind of instrument can be used. For any aircraft that crosses the airspace of Belarus.” Lance Beggis.

Pratasevich is the co-founder of the Telegram communication app Nexta Channel, which Belarus declared as an extremist after the channel was used to organize large-scale protests against Lukashenko last year. Protests have decreased in recent months, but the Belarusian authorities are continuing to suppress the opposition through arrests.

According to the Belarusian Presidential News Agency, the plane received bomb threats while flying over Belarusian territory. The official subsequently stated that no explosives were found on the ship.

Passengers were disembarked in Minsk. After the plane arrived in Vilnius, Defense Minister Avidas Anusoskas said that Platasevi?’s girlfriend and four other people did not re-board the plane.

He said on Facebook: “We will find the remaining four people who did not travel with other people. Lithuania has launched an investigation to understand what really happened on that plane.”

The exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to start an investigation.

Watch | Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs meets with Qihannuskaya:

Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne met Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at his home in exile in Lithuania. 2:00

In a statement, she said: “It is absolutely obvious that this is a hijacking of an aircraft carried out by special forces with the purpose of detaining activist and blogger Raman Platasevich.” “No one is there. I can fly over Belarus to ensure my own safety.”

The International Civil Aviation Organization subsequently stated that it was “serious about the apparent forced landing.”

The Belarusian authorities stated that there were 123 passengers on the plane. But Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Landsbergis said there were 171 people.

“Totally unacceptable”

Western countries also expressed shock.

U.S. Ambassador Julie Fisher said that Belarus “represents its contempt for the international community and its citizens again,” calling the incident “dangerous and abominable”, and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der · Ryan tweeted: “Forcing @Ryanair to take off is absolutely unacceptable. Athens flew to Vilnius and landed in Minsk.”

At the same time, Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau called the incident a “serious interference with civil aviation and a clear attack on media freedom” in a tweet posted on Sunday.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stated that “without clear consequences from the EU, such action cannot be taken” and called for Platasevich’s release.

After the presidential election in August last year, several months of protests broke out in Belarus.

The police severely suppressed the protests, detained about 30,000 people, and beat many people.

Although the protests ended in the winter, Belarus continued to take action against the opposition and independent news media. Last week, 11 staff members of the TUT.by news website were detained by the police.