The design for one of Donald Trump s new Trump Cards has a typo businessinsider.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from businessinsider.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
AP Photo
Roman Protasevich is a vocal critic of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Protasevich s activism against his country s tyranny dates back to 2011, when he was 16 years old.
The dramatic arrest of Belarusian dissident Roman Protasevich drew international interest this week, when Belarusian authorities took the 26-year-old journalist into custody after grounding his Lithuania-bound Ryanair flight.
Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, were aboard flight FR4978 from Athens to Lithuania before pilots were alerted of a bogus security threat and ordered to land in Minsk. Belarusian state media reported it was Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko who gave an unequivocal order to ground the passenger jet in Minsk.
Photo by Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Roman Protasevich pleaded with cabin crew not to land Flight 4978 in Minsk, according to Politico.
Passengers said the flight was just minutes from its destination when the pilot announced an emergency landing.
Protasevich told passengers he was facing the death penalty.
Roman Protasevich, the Belarusian journalist and activist who was detained in Minsk on Sunday, pleaded with cabin crew not to ground the Athens-Vilnius flight in the Belarus capital, out of fear for his life, according to Politico.
Belarusian authorities on Sunday sent a fighter jet to divert the Ryanair plane, citing a bogus bomb threat. When the passenger plane was forced to land in Minsk, police officers boarded the jet and arrested Protasevich and his girlfriend, sparking international outrage.