Amnesty International campaign for Roman Protasevich

Flag by Jasper Johns, 1954-55

The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I hope this message finds you, your family, friends & staff in good health.

As our world emerges from the pandemic, people everywhere still face many challenges, but none so insidious as the state-sanctioned hijacking of Ryanair flight FR4978 and the kidnapping of Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega on Sunday, 23 May 2021.

Staggering in scope and brutality, this is state terrorism, a baseless military attack against a civilian aircraft, civilian passengers, international civil aviation, internationally recognized standards of democracy, and Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Roman and Sofia are in grave danger. Their safety and survival together with our collective humanity depend on the world’s right action right now.

An act of terrorism

14 May

• Email address created for Ahmed Yurlanov, sender of the “Hamas bomb threat”

23 May

• 09:30 GMT during the descent to Vilnius, the flight was forced to divert to farther-away Minsk due to a bomb threat from “Hamas”
• 09:47 GMT emergency declared by the pilot
• 09:54 GMT timestamp on bomb-threat email from Ahmed Yurlanov for “Hamas” 24 minutes after Belarusian authorities claimed they received the bomb threat
• Protesevich was arrested and charged under Articles 293(1) (“Organization of mass disorders”), 342(1) (“Organization or active participation in group actions that severely violate public order”) and 130(3) (“Incitement of racial, ethnic, religious or other social hatred or enmity”). Amnesty International: Free Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega, Write a message

More

• Belarusian authorities reported the “bomb threat” and diverted the plane 24 minutes before they received the “bomb threat”
• A military MiG jet escorted the civilian Ryanair plane and passengers to Minsk airport
• Belarus attributed the “bomb threat” to Hamas, but Hamas claims no responsibility
• “President Alexander Lukashenko told Parliament the email originated in Switzerland, however Swiss authorities say they know nothing about it, and Swiss email provider Proton Technologies said it had not seen ‘credible evidence that the Belarusian claims are true.'” – Belarus plane: What we know and what we don’t, BBC News
• Arrests, torture, and imprisonment of journalists and activists has increased recently
• Belarus carries out the death penalty and executed two journalists in 2019
• “In August 2020 during post-election protests over 30,000 people were arbitrarily detained and there were hundreds of complaints of torture and ill treatment” – Amnesty International: Free Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega

Mr. President, I urge you to swiftly galvanize all powers by any means necessary to ensure the release of Roman and Sofia before they’re killed and before our right to life, liberty, and security of person in this fragile world are further endangered.