Belarus accused of ‘abhorrent action’ after Ryanair flight diverted to arrest blogger

Roman Protasevich wanted for organising last year's protests against Alexander Lukashenko

Belarusian authorities appear to have forced a Ryanair jet to perform an emergency landing in Minsk in order to arrest an opposition blogger wanted for organising last summer's protests against leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Roman Protasevich, a former editor of the influential Telegram channels Nexta and Nexta Live, was detained by police after his flight was diverted to Minsk national airport due to a bomb threat. Minsk confirmed it had scrambled a Mig-29 fighter to escort the plane.