Ryanair plane: Western powers voice outrage at plane ‘hijacking’

Western countries have expressed outrage at the forced diversion of a plane carrying a Belarusian activist on an internal EU flight on Sunday.

EU leaders are due to discuss their response to what the union's executive called a "hijacking" and the US state department "a shocking act".

Belarus forced the plane, which was bound for Lithuania, to land in Minsk claiming a bomb threat to the aircraft.

It arrested the Belarusian journalist and activist Roman Protasevich. 

The 26-year-old was aboard the Ryanair plane, which was flying from Athens. The aircraft was due to land in Vilnius when Belarusian authorities scrambled a fighter jet and diverted it to the country's capital. 

State media in Belarus said President Alexander Lukashenko had personally given the order for the move following the bomb alert, which turned out to be false.

The plane landed in Vilnius more than seven hours after its scheduled arrival.

Lukashenko: Europe's longest-serving ruler

'If you croak we don't care': Brutality in Belarus

Since winning a disputed election last August, 66-year-old Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, has cracked down on dissenting voices. Many opposition figures have been arrested while others fled into exile.