Roman protasevich - play

The 24-year-old faces six years in prison if convicted of numerous charges.

On 15 June, O'Leary appeared before a British parliamentary committee to answer questions about the incident.

A Greek government official stated that an investigation had not indicated a connection between the Greek national and the incident.

The plane was closer to Vilnius than Minsk when, at about 12.

According to the airline, its pilots were notified by Belarusian authorities of "a potential security threat on board" and were instructed to land the aircraft in Minsk.

Retrieved 15 May 2021.

Opposition leader claimed that Belarusian ATC threatened to shoot down the passenger plane if it did not make an emergency landing in Minsk.

He was virtually unknown outside , until the commercial Ryanair plane on which he was a passenger was abruptly diverted by a fighter jet and forced to land in the country's capital Minsk on Sunday.

Asked by one Twitter user how he managed to remain upbeat while being subjected to torture, Protasevich denied he had been mistreated by the authorities while in custody.

At times tearful, he said that he had plotted to topple Lukashenko by organizing mass protests and that other opposition activists should call off their demonstrations.

On 4 June 2021, the European Union banned Belarus airlines from its airspace along with other economic sanctions.

Lucian Kim, NPR News, Moscow.