Sat, 2021-05-29 04:10
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration on Friday said it will re-impose sanctions on nine Belarusian state-owned businesses in response to Belarus’ forced landing of a passenger jet and subsequent arrest of a journalist on board.
“We call on [Belarus President Alexander] Lukashenka to allow a credible international investigation into the events of May 23,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement, referring to the day the passenger jet was forced to land in Minsk.
The Belarus president’s last name is also spelled in English as Lukashenko.
The Ryanair passenger plane was flying from Greece and bound for Lithuania, however Belarus diverted its route to force it to land in Minsk on Sunday.
The plane was searched on the ground, and no bomb was found — but Roman Pratasevich, a 26-year-old journalist and activist, and his Russian girlfriend were detained.
Ryanair says its crew was instructed to land the jetliner in Minsk, just before it was to land in Vilnius, Lithuania, and European Union leaders have denounced the move as an act of air piracy.
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