The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council is condemning Belarus for “unlawful interference” with Ryanair Flight FR4978 by delivering a false bomb threat that forced the Boeing 737 to land in Minsk. The aircraft, carrying 132 passengers and crew, had been headed from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania.
Belarusian authorities dispatched a MiG-29 fighter jet to meet the airliner as it traveled through Belarus airspace on May 23, 2021, and to force the 737 to land. After landing, authorities arrested a journalist who had criticized Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and detained the journalist’s girlfriend. Later in the day, the 737 was allowed to depart, and it arrived in Vilnius in the evening. There was no bomb on the airplane, according to the U.S. Justice Department, which earlier this year charged several Belarusian officials with aircraft piracy in connection with the event.
In the immediate aftermath of the accident, Ryanair denounced Belarus authori…
