US DoJ accuses Belarusian officials of diverting Ryanair flight

Belarusian government officials were accused of air piracy for diverting Ryanair Flight 4978 to detain a dissident journalist in May 2021, as read in a statement released by the Department of Justice on Thursday.

“We allege the defendants carried out an elaborate scheme to fake a bomb scare which forced an airplane to make an emergency landing in their country so they could arrest a dissident journalist,” stated Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll of the FBI’s New York Field Office.

Ryanair Flight 4978, had four US citizens and more than 100 passengers on board when the events occurred on May 23, 2021. “Today’s indictment provides a prompt and public explanation of what actually happened to the Flight,” concluded the statement.

Baha Breaking the News (BBN) / JGA