Belarus jails Russian activist after ‘hijacking’ Ryanair flight to arrest her

A Russian activist has been jailed for six years after her Ryanair flight was forced to land in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in May 2021.

Sofia Sapega and her dissident boyfriend Roman Protasevich were on board a plane from Athens to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius when it was forced to changed course to head for Minsk after a supposed bomb scare.

The airline said Belarusian flight controllers told the crew there was a bomb threat as it was crossing through the country’s airspace and ordered it to land in Minsk. The couple were then pulled off the flight and detained in a move which sparked international outrage.