Warsaw — An officer of the Belarusian KGB was in the air-traffic control tower of Minsk Airport when a Ryanair flight with dissident blogger Roman Protasevich on board was diverted earlier this year, the Polish government said on Thursday.
"He gave instructions to the staff member who had the contact with the pilot," a statement from Poland's ABW secret service and the attorney general said.
Investigators also established that there was no bomb threat for the flight, contrary to the warning given to the pilot by air-traffic control. The threat was communicated before an email purporting that explosives were on board had even been sent, according to the statement.
The findings are based on interviews with passengers and airline representatives, as well as examinations of the aircraft and analysis of recorded conversations.
The Ryanair plane is registered in Poland so Warsaw initiated investigations.
On May 23, Belarusian authorities forced a Ryanair passenger plane on its way from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk, claiming that a bomb threat had been received.
Protasevich, co-founder of the opposition Telegram channel Nexta, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were on the flight. Both were arrested after landing.
The European Union, Britain and the United States imposed renewed sanctions against Belarus following the incident.
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