The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is to carry out an independent investigation into the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Belarus.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan earlier told the International Transport Forum (ITF) that a thorough investigation into the incident is needed.
Mr Ryan also called for the immediate release of Roman Protasevich and his Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega.
Speaking after the inquiry was confirmed, Mr Ryan said: “We fully support ICAO’s decision to carry out a transparent and independent investigation into the incident in Belarus and welcome the support of our international colleagues in ensuring this will be done.
“In representing Ireland at two international transport fora today, I signalled our condemnation of the coercive forced landing of the Ryanair aircraft by the Belarusian authorities and called for the unconditional release of Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega.
“These unacceptable actions were an attack on European aviation security and put in danger the lives of the passengers and crew as they travelled between two EU capitals.”
Mr Protasevich was on board a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday when it was forced to change course to head for the Belarus capital after a reported bomb scare, escorted by a MiG fighter jet.
At the @ITF_Forum today I roundly condemned the coercive, forced landing of a @Ryanair aircraft by the Belarusian authorities on 23rd May. I called for a transparent & independent investigation by @icao and later today will join a special @icao meeting to ask for such an enquiry. pic.twitter.com/Zwl8YRrodp
— Eamon Ryan (@EamonRyan) May 27, 2021
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He was arrested and, in a video released by Belarusian authorities on Monday evening, appeared to admit he was involved in organising mass protests in Minsk last year.
Mr Ryan said that Ireland and European leaders have condemned the “coercive forced landing” of the plane.
He added that the “unacceptable actions” by authorities in Belarus endangered the lives of the passengers and crew onboard.
“We call for an transparent and independent investigation by the International Civil Aviation Organisation into the incident,” Mr Ryan told the ITF annual conference of transport ministers.
“I think we need a full probe, a thorough investigation.
“What we will be looking for is an investigation under Article 55E of the Convention of the Council (ICAO).
“My understanding is that this will be the first such investigation. We would expect it to be at the end of June. I think it’s vital that it’s thorough, that it’s independent and comprehensive.
“For everyone’s interest we need to know what happened, which is a very serious incident.
“The Irish Government made very clear how we condemn this incident and call for the release of the two people detained immediately.”
Article 55E gives the council the power to investigated, at the request of any contracting State, “any situation which may appear to present avoidable obstacles to the development of international air navigation; and, after such investigation, issue such reports as may appear to it desirable”.
On Monday the EU and the UK announced it would issue new sanctions against Belarus in light of the arrest.
Alexander Lukashenko has been president of Belarus since the post was established in 1994 and won re-election for a sixth time in 2020 with 80% of the vote, in a ballot deemed “neither free nor fair” by the European Union.
Since winning the disputed election last August, Mr Lukashenko has cracked down on dissenting voices, with many opposition figures arrested and others forced into exile.
