A Ryanair plane from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Belarus for several hours on Sunday, with activists saying it was done to arrest a dissident journalist on board.
European nations reacted with outrage, accusing Belarus of “state terrorism”.
The ex-editor of the Nexta group, Roman Protasevich, was detained before the plane was allowed to resume its flight.
Belarus media said a MiG-29 escorted the jet to Minsk because of a bomb scare but no explosives were found.
The plane finally landed in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, its original destination, at 21:25 local time (18:25 GMT), more than seven hours after its scheduled arrival.
Arriving passengers said they had been given no information about the reason for the abrupt diversion to Minsk. One said Mr Protasevich looked “super scared. I looked directly to his eyes and it was very sad”.
Another, Monika Simkiene, told AFP news agency: “He just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty.”
There have already been calls for the EU and Nato to intervene.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned the “outlandish action” would have “serious implications”.
Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was beaten by Alexander Lukashenko in presidential polls last year widely denounced as rigged, was among those demanding Mr Protasevich’s release.
Since August’s election, 66-year-old Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, has cracked down on dissenting voices. Many opposition figures have been arrested or, like Ms Tikhanovskaya, fled into exile.
Flight FR4978 was en route from Athens to Vilnius when it turned east to Minsk shortly before it reached the Lithuanian border. Greece and Lithuania put the number of passengers on board at 171.
In a statement, Ryanair said that the crew had been “notified by Belarus (Air Traffic Control) of a potential security threat on board and were instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk”.
The flight path, visible on the Flightradar24 website, suggests the plane was actually nearer to Vilnius than Minsk when it turned.
Ryanair said checks in Minsk found “nothing untoward” and the aircraft left Minsk at 20:50 local time.
“We apologise sincerely to all affected passengers for this regrettable delay which was outside Ryanair’s control,” it added. – BBC.
