UPDATE - Belarus says Ryanair's forced landing came after Switzerland's bomb notice

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS, MINOR EDITS

By Ali Cura

MINSK, Belarus (AA) – Belarus said on Wednesday that a Ryanair flight was forced to divert to the capital Minsk after a bomb notice came from Switzerland.

The plane was diverted as it was flying over an area close to The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, President Alexander Lukashenko said during his speech in parliament.

"The bomb report came from Switzerland. Moreover, the notice came to Athens, Vilnius [Lithuania's capital], and Minsk at the same time. The Belarusian side quickly transmitted the information to the flight crew in line with international rules. At that time, the plane entered the Belarusian borders and was in our airspace," Lukashenko said.

He said that pilots had time to make a decision while 123 passengers and six crew members were under threat.

Recalling the 1986 Chernobyl incident, the world's worst known nuclear disaster, Lukashenko asked what would have happened if they could not take the situation under control.

He also defended Belarus' choice to fly the MiG-29 warplane, saying it complied with all the rules. He added the protection and air defense systems of the nuclear plant were standing ready while the plane was in the air.

"I have to protect the people and think about the security of my country," he said. "If terrorists wanted to blow up the plane, then we couldn't help. I took a legal action to protect my people."

On Sunday, a Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS flight from Greece's capital Athens to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius landed in the Belarusian capital Minsk due to a bomb threat, and Roman Protasevich, a journalist wanted for his involvement in "terrorism incidents," was reportedly detained.

During a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday, Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, identified the Russian woman, who was detained alongside Protasevich, as Sofia Sapega.

Protasevich is the founder of a social media news channel, which reportedly played a major role in protests last summer in Minsk demanding the resignation of Lukashenko after he was awarded a sixth term in a presidential election.

*Writing by Beyza Binnur Donmez in Ankara