When a Belarus Mig-29 flogger forced down Ryanair from Athens to Villnius, Lithuania May 23, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko knew that 36-year-old public enemy No. 1 Roman Protasecvich was on the flight. Western governments and the press refer to Protasevich as a “journalist,” looking for protections from world press organizations, when, in fact, Protasevich runs a dissident social media website attracting like-minded anti-Lukashenko activists. Protasevich’s website attracted over 1 million followers to participate in violent anti-government street demonstrations last fall. Yet if you ask the Western press, Protasevich is an innocent journalist along the lines of the late Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, killed by the Saudi government Oct. 2, 2018. Western powers and the press blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for Khashoggi’s murder.
U.S., NATO, U.K. and European Union [EU] called Lukashenko’s forced landing a hijacking, promptly arresting Protasevich in Minsk after the flight landed. Russia’s Foreign Minister spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the force-down of the commercial flight an “absolutely reasonable approach,” giving credit to Belarus officials for capturing Protasevich. Zakharaova cited other examples of Western countries forcing down flights to capture fugitives when appropriate. U.S. officials had no such luck in 2013 when 37-year-old National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden stole top secret governing electronic files and fled to Hong Kong May 20, 2013. What doesn’t the Western press get when it comes to Russia or Belarus criminals? President Joe Biden and his 58-year-old Secretary of State Tony Blinken have practically destroyed U.S.-Russian relations over 44-year-old Russian dissident Alexi Navalny.
Western officials and the press slammed Lukashenko for daring to force down a commercial airliner to arrest the country’s No. 1 dissident. What doesn’t the U.S., EU, U.N. or NATO get that a sovereign state has a right to arrest any criminal that seeks to topple the government? Like jailed Russian insurgent Alexi Navalny, Protasevich works day-and-night to overthrow the Lukashenko government. Dissidents have a right to engage in subversive activities but only at the expense of potential consequences. When it comes to Navalny, his bravado got the best of him, not learning from the experience of 57-year-old former Yukos Oil oligarch Mikhail Khordorkovsky who spent eight years in a Siberian prison. Putin commuted his sentence Dec. 20, 2013. Navalny though he could lead a clandestine insurgency without consequences, until he returned to Moscow after his Novichok poisoning Jan. 14 to face arrest.
Western media now blames Putin for helping Lukashenko orchestrate the force-down of the commercial jet with Protasevich onboard. “Belarus would not have hijacked an EU plane without Russian approval” and that “possibly the hijacking was even a Russian initiative,” said Yale University history professor Timothy Snyder. Former U.K. Belarus Amb Nigel Gould-Davies said he “had no reason” to believe that Russian hijacked the plane, “that doesn’t mean to say Russia doesn’t approve or didn’t assist,” looking to blame Russia. British Foreign Secretary 47-tyear-old Dmonic Raab also suspected Moscow involvement. “It’s very difficult to believe that this kind of action could have been taken without at least the acquiescence of the authorities in Moscow,” Raab said, believing Russian involvement in the Ryanair force-down. Raab admitted he has zero evidence for his thoughts.
Regardless of whether Moscow assisted Lukashenko, what would Western governments do if they knew a known drug lord or fugitive from justice were on a commercial flight? Protasevich was considered the nation’s most wanted for his subversive acts against the Lukashenko government. Painting Protasevich as a journalist, not a revolutionary, distorts his identity to seeks extra protections under international laws protecting the press. But any way you slice it, you’re not a journalist because you happen to run a subversive website seeking to topple your host country’s government. When it comes to dissidents of totalitarian regimes, they’re often viewed as heroes in the Western press, seeking to promote democracy in foreign lands. Protasevich has all the backing, like Navalny, from Western government and the press to work feverishly to topple governments like Russia and Belarus.
Western government and the press are making 78-year-old President Joe Biden’s summit with Putin next to impossible. Biden and Blinken haven’t helped matters, openly blaming Putin for everything but the kitchen sink. Blaming Putin for Lukashenko’s force-down of a Ryanair’s jet to arrest Belarus revolutionary Roman Protasevich is another example of the Western press mobbing Putin. Heading into any summit, Biden and Blinken need to park the accusatory rhetoric at the door and listen more to Putin’s point-of-view. Calling Putin a “soulless killer” March 16, Biden committed a reckless gaffe, serving no one in the Western alliance. For the upcoming summit to have any value, Biden needs to show Putin the respect he deserves as the longest serving major leader on the world stage. Complaints and differences need to be parked at the door before starting the upcoming summit.
