The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced after an emergency meeting held on Thursday that it will open an investigation into Belarus forcing a passenger plane crossing its airspace on Sunday to land in Minsk to arrest an opposition journalist onboard. ICAO stated in a press release that it decided to open an investigation to "ascertain the facts" of what occurred, emphasizing "the importance of establishing the facts of what happened and verifying whether there was a violation of international aviation law by a member state of ICAO, including the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and its annexes."
The organization also called on "all ICAO member states and other concerned parties to cooperate with this investigation." ICAO made this decision during a closed emergency meeting of its governing body with the participation of its 36 members.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko sparked Western outrage on Sunday when he ordered a military fighter jet to intercept a Ryanair flight traveling from Athens to Vilnius, which carried opposition journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sabiga, both of whom were arrested by authorities upon the plane's landing in Minsk. Minsk justified the forced landing by claiming there had been a bomb threat on board.
However, the European Union responded to Minsk by closing its airspace and airports to planes coming from Belarus and advised European airlines to avoid the airspace of this country. ICAO is a United Nations agency based in Montreal that met on Thursday after European member states of the United Nations Security Council and the United States requested an "urgent investigation."
ICAO, which is tasked with establishing rules for civil aviation transport, does not have the authority to impose sanctions. However, if a violation of international rules is established, its role is simply to "assist countries in seeking what they seek in discussions or condemnations or sanctions, or other measures, in accordance with the Chicago Convention." Belarus is a party to the Chicago Convention, which states that "each contracting state agrees not to use civil aviation for any purpose inconsistent with the aims of this convention."
On Wednesday, Lukashenko stated in his first public comment since the plane was diverted, "I acted legally to protect our people," considering that Western criticism is merely another attempt by his opponents to undermine his rule.
