EU leaders agree on sanctions against Belarus

On Monday evening, the European Union agreed to impose sanctions on Belarus, including a ban on the country's aircraft from using the skies and airports of 27 member states.

The decision is a response to the forced landing of a Ryanair passenger plane at Minsk airport and the arrest of Raman Pratasovich, a journalist opposed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The flight from Athens to Lithuania was forced to land at Minsk airport by Belarusian security forces with a false bomb threat. The European Union has called the Belarusian government's action an "airplane hijacking" and has called for Mr. Pratasovich's immediate release.

"We will not tolerate anyone betting on the life or death of innocent citizens," said Charles Michel, the European Council president who chaired the EU summit.

Belarusian state television aired a short video of Raman Pratasovich on Monday evening, showing him sitting at a table and saying that his physical condition was good and that he had been treated "very well and in accordance with the law" during his detention.

Raman Pratasovic, a key member of the Nexta Telegram channel that covered the August protests against Alexander Lukashenko's government, says in the video that he provided investigators with documentation on how the protests were organized.

EU leaders in Brussels reacted quickly to the incident by asking all EU airlines to refrain from flying over Belarus.

They also imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials involved in the forced landing of the plane and urged the International Civil Aviation Organization to launch an investigation into the incident.

EU leaders called on the European Council to "take the necessary measures to ban Belarusian aircraft from flying in EU skies and to prevent Belarusian airlines from using EU airports."

The immediate release of Sofia Sapga, Raman Pratasovic's girlfriend, who was taken off the plane with him and arrested, is also another demand of European Union leaders.

Lukashenko's government has accused the journalist and the Telegram channel "Nexta" of "inciting people to social disorder, civil disobedience, and spreading social hatred."

Following popular protests over the results of the presidential election in Belarus, security officials and police have cracked down heavily on protesters, arresting 30,000 people. Hundreds of people have reportedly been tortured and many journalists have been persecuted.

Source: Radio Farda