Ryanair flight no. FR 4978. Legal aspects of the hijacking of a Polish plane in Belarus on 23 May 2021

This article is devoted to a legal analysis of the events of 23 May 2021 involving a Polish Boeing 737-800 with registration number SP-RSM, performing a flight from Athens to Vilnius, specifically the actions of the Belarusian authorities (air traffic services and special services) that led to the forced landing of this aircraft in Minsk, which allowed the arrest of Roman Protasevich and his partner. The basis of the considerations in the first part of the article is the interpretation of the relevant international and Belarusian law in the context of the revealed circumstances surrounding the incident under investigation. The author’s aim was to answer the question of whether the actions of the Belarusian authorities were legal. Ultimately, it was shown that on 23 May 2021, a number of legal rules governing air navigation were violated in relation to the Polish aircraft, which raises the question of who should bear responsibility for it and on the basis of which legal norms. The second part of the article is devoted to this issue. The conclusion is that under international law, the responsibility for the illegal forced landing of Boeing 737-800 should be borne by the Belarusian state, and under internal criminal law regulations - by individual Belarusian officials.