Airliner hijack victim is jailed

THE Russian girlfriend of a Belarusian dissident arrested when their Ryanair plane was forced to land in Minsk was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday.

Sofia Sapega, 24, was detained alongside her boyfriend Roman Protasevich in May last year. Minsk was accused of ‘hijacking’ the Ryanair flight after it was escorted to the ground by a MiG-29 fighter jet. Ms Sapega, pictured, faced seven criminal charges.

After her arrest, Ms Sapega appealed to Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko for her release. Mr Protasevich, 27, fled to Europe in 2019 from where he coran the Nexta Telegram channels, a key Belarus opposition media that helped mobilise protesters during rallies against the re-election of Lukashenko in 2020.

Once arrested, both filmed ‘confession’ videos that supporters said were made under duress. Mr Protasevich is under house arrest in Belarus awaiting trial.