Three Belarusian Citizens Charged in Connection with the May 23, 2021, Hijacking of a Polish Plane and Forcing an Emergency Landing in Minsk, Leading to the Illegal Detention of 132 People and the Arrest of Belarusian Opposition Activist Raman Pratasevich.
During the investigation, recordings of conversations from the airplane cockpit, including the voice recorder and technical flight data from the “black box,” were secured. Additionally, reports from the flight crew about the course of the flight were collected. A passenger and crew list was established, witnesses were interviewed, and recordings and photos, including those taken by passengers, were secured. Evidence was obtained through European Investigation Orders.
The evidence gathered allowed for the determination that the hijacking involved the perpetrators providing false information about an alleged explosive device, which then forced the pilots to make an emergency landing in Minsk, leading to the unlawful detention of the crew and passengers.
The evidence directly indicates that the true aim of the hijacking was to detain Belarusian opposition activist Raman Pratasevich, which indeed occurred.
Based on the gathered evidence, the prosecutor issued formal charges against three Belarusian citizens: Leonid C. (former director of the Belarusian Air Navigation Agency), Yevgenii T. (shift supervisor of air traffic control in Minsk), and Andrey A.M. (head of the KGB).
The charges relate to the hijacking of Ryanair flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius by using deceit in the form of providing false information about an alleged explosive device on board and threatening an explosion over Lithuanian territory. This resulted in the illegal detention of 132 people on board, including Polish citizens (qualified under Article 166 § 1 and Article 189 § 1 of the Polish Penal Code).
The suspects are not currently on Polish territory, so the prosecutor could not formally present the charges. Therefore, the prosecutor filed a motion with the court for pretrial detention to initiate both national and international search procedures.
On September 4, 2024, the court granted the prosecutor’s motion, imposing a preventive measure of pretrial detention for three months from the moment of apprehension. Yesterday (September 5), the prosecutor initiated a search for the suspects through wanted notices. In the coming days, the prosecutor will file for European arrest warrants and request Interpol to issue red notices for the suspects.
