In May 2021, a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, was diverted to the Belarusian capital and escorted by a MiG-29 fighter jet, according to reports at the time.
On landing, dissident Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega were taken into custody.
The Boeing 737 aircraft was registered in Poland and operated by a Polish subsidiary of the Irish carrier Ryanair.
Polish prosecutors said in a statement on Friday they had decided to bring charges against three Belarusians, identified only as "Leonid C. (former director of the Belarusian air navigation agency), Yevgenia T. (head of the air traffic control shift in Minsk) and Andrey A.M. (head of the KGB)."
The full names of the suspects were withheld under Polish privacy laws.
According to the EU's Eurojust justice agency, which supported the high-profile investigation, "the suspects are charged with unlawfully depriving 132 people of their liberty through terrorist acts and intending to seriously intimidate numerous people, including groups opposed to the Belarusian regime."
The Eurojust agency said on Friday that "Belarusian air traffic controllers forced the aircraft to divert from its route to Vilnius by providing false information about an alleged explosive device, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing at Minsk airport."
Prosecutors said they would file a motion to issue European arrest warrants for the suspects.
Poland in May 2021 condemned Belarus for intercepting the Ryanair aircraft and forcing the flight to land in Minsk.
The European Union in June 2021 banned Belarusian planes from entering its airspace in response to the incident.
Protasevich was sentenced to eight years in prison in May 2023 for offences including inciting terrorism, organising mass disturbances and slandering Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, but pardoned later that same month, the Reuters news agency reported, citing Belarusian state media.
Sapega was also pardoned in June 2023, it said.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters, gov.pl, eurojust.europa.eu
