KYIV – A founder of a messaging app channel that has been a key information conduit for opponents of Belarus’ authoritarian president was arrested Sunday after an airliner in which he was traveling on was diverted to Belarus because of a bomb threat.
The presidential press service said President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet accompany the Ryanair plane — traveling from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania — to the Minsk airport.
The Belarusian Interior Ministry said Raman Pratasevich was arrested at the airport. Pratasevich is a co-founder of the Telegram messaging app’s Nexta channel, which Belarus last year declared as extremist after it was used to help organize major protests against Lukashenko.