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President Joe Biden has demanded the release of Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich after the Belarus government made a forced diversion of a commercial airplane in an effort to arrest the man.
“Belarus’s forced diversion of a commercial Ryanair flight, travelling between two member states of the European Union, and subsequent removal and arrest of Raman Protasevich, a Belarusian journalist traveling abroad, are a direct affront to international norms,” Mr Biden said in a statement released on Monday, using an alternative Western spelling of his name.
“The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms both the diversion of the plane and the subsequent removal and arrest of Mr Pratasevich.”
Already Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for an international investigation after President Alexander Lukashenko sent a MiG-29 fighter jet to divert a commercial plane while it was flying through his country’s airspace on Sunday.
“We strongly condemn the Lukashenka regime’s brazen and shocking act,” Mr Blinken said in a statement on Sunday, using an alternative spelling for Lukashenko.
“We demand an international investigation and are coordinating with our partners on next steps. The United States stands with the people of Belarus,” he added.
Mr Biden confirmed that he joined the “many calls” asking for an international investigation into the events that took place on Sunday. The president also said he supported the EU in its calls for “targeted economic sanctions and other measures” against Belarus for the move.
Not only was the Biden administration demanding the release of Mr Protasevich, who remains under arrest in Minsk, but also the “release of the hundreds of political prisoners who are being unjustly detained by the Lukashenka regime,” the president said in a statement.
Mr Lukashenko and his administration experienced unified fury from the United States, the UK, the EU, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations following the diversion and arrest on Sunday.
On Monday, European leaders agreed to toughen sanctions against Belarus and bar EU airlines from flying over the country’s airspace in reaction to the decisions made by the Belarusian government. These moves would likely impact the country’s economy.
This swift action from European leaders came as a video of Mr Protasevich was released to the public on Monday where the journalist said he was being treated “as correctly as possible” while he continues “to cooperate with the investigation and give confessional testimony about the fact of organising mass riots in the city of Minsk.”
Members of the opposition party in Belarus have claimed the journalist was coerced into making the statement.
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