A DECLARATION OF THE UBJ MANAGING BOARD

The UBJ Managing Board strongly condemns the actions of authorities in Minsk as a result of the forced landing of a passenger plane of a European airline operating a regular international flight, flying through the airspace of Belarus and the Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend,who were on board, were arrested.

This is a gross violation of international law and generally accepted aviation standards. The lives of dozens of passengers from different countries, who were on the board of the plane, were endangered.It is outrageous that we are witnessing such absolutely unacceptable and insolent actions by the authorities in a European country.

We are concerned about the fate of journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend and insist on their immediate release.

We insist on independent international investigation of the shocking incident and clarification of all circumstances around itby the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).It is necessary to build an explicit international legal framework to prevent such incidents in the future.

25.05.2021