Belarusian journalist in prison video after flight diversion

A dissident journalist arrested when Belarus diverted his flight says in a video from prison that he has been set up by an unidentified associate

KYIV, Ukraine -- A dissident journalist arrested when Belarus diverted his flight said in a video from prison that he has been set up by an unidentified associate. The footage of Raman Pratasevich was part of an hour-long TV program aired late Wednesday by the state-controlled ONT channel. In the film, the 26-year-old Pratasevich is also shown saying that protests against Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko are now pointless amid a tough crackdown and suggesting that the opposition wait for a more opportune moment. The film claimed that the Belarusian authorities were unaware that Pratasevich was on board the Ryanair jet en route from Athens to Vilnius when flight controllers diverted it to Minsk on May 23 citing a bomb threat. No bomb was found after the landing, but Pratasevich was arrested along with his Russian girlfriend. The flight's diversion outraged the European Union, which responded by barring the Belarusian flag carrier from its skies, told European carriers to skirt Belarus and drafted new bruising sanctions against key sectors of the Belarusian economy.