Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has called out the President of Belarus following his decision to force a Ryanair flight to land in a bid to detain Protasevich – a journalist, who was eventually arrested at the airport.
According to extensive reports, Roman Protasevich, is said to be the co-founder of the Telegram messaging app’s Nexta channel, which Belarus last year declared as “extremist” after it was used to help organise large protests against Lukashenko; Belarus’ President.
With many critics and European leaders, threatening to call off international flights over Belarus, Khodorkovsky – who described the flight diversion as ‘piracy’, has called for sanctions whilst clamouring for the release of Roman Protasevich.
“Roman Protasevich must be freed and the dictator punished. The dictator should be hit where it hurts the most: his wallet.
“European countries should join United States sanctions against Belneftekhim and sanction Belaruskali.
“The piratical interception of a civilian aircraft in the Belarusian sky contemptuously disregards international aviation safety rules and is an unprecedented case of using military planes to hunt down a journalist,” Khodorkovsky said.
Protasevich could also see a 15-year sentence handed to him after News of his engagements broke out. He also does the country to Poland as reported by another media outlets.
