Ua ʻōlelo ʻo US Loio Damian Williams: "Mai ka wanaʻao o ka lele ikaika, ua hui pū nā ʻāina a puni ka honua e mālama i nā mokulele mokulele. Ua uhaʻi ka poʻe i hoʻopiʻi i kēlā mau kūlana ma ka hoʻohuli ʻana i kahi mokulele e hoʻonui i ke kumu kūpono ʻole o ke kāohi ʻana i ka kūʻē a me ka ʻōlelo kūʻokoʻa. Mahalo i ka hana noiʻi kupaianaha a kahi hui hui o ka FBI counterterrorism a me nā mea noiʻi counterintelligence, hāʻawi ka palapala hoʻopiʻi i kēia lā i ka wehewehe wikiwiki a me ka lehulehu o ka mea i loaʻa i ka Flight. Ua paʻa mākou i ka hoʻopaʻa ʻana i kēia poʻe i komo i loko o kahi kipi weliweli e hana i ka pōā mokulele ʻaʻole i uhaki wale i nā kuʻuna o ka honua a me ke kānāwai kalaima US, akā hiki ke hoʻoweliweli i nā ola o ʻehā mau kamaʻāina US a me nā helu o nā poʻe kaʻa hala ʻole ma luna o ka moku.
Ua ʻōlelo ʻo ka Luna Hoʻokele FBI ʻo Michael J. Driscoll: "Ke ʻōlelo nei mākou ua hana ka poʻe i hoʻopiʻi ʻia i kahi hoʻolālā kikoʻī e hoʻopunipuni i kahi hoʻoweliweli poma e koi ai i kahi mokulele e pae ulia pōpilikia i ko lākou ʻāina i hiki iā lākou ke hopu i kahi mea kākau moʻolelo kūʻē. I ka wā o kā mākou noiʻi ʻana, ua ʻike ka FBI i kahi hana kikoʻī e hoʻokau i nā poʻe kaʻa mai nā ʻāina he nui, me ka US, i ka ʻoiaʻiʻo o ka hoʻoweliweli hoʻoweliweli. ʻAʻole wale ʻo ka mea i hana ʻia he uhaki noʻonoʻo i ke kānāwai US, he mea weliweli loa ia i ka palekana o nā mea a pau e lele ana i ka mokulele. ʻO ka mea hoʻokele aʻe e loaʻa i kahi kelepona pilikia mai kahi hale kiaʻi e kānalua paha i ka ʻoiaʻiʻo o ka ulia pōpilikia - kahi e hoʻopilikia ai i nā ola. E hoʻomau ka FBI a me kā mākou mau hoa haole i ka poʻe hana hewa no nā hana e hoʻoweliweli pololei i ke ola o ko mākou poʻe kamaʻāina ʻAmelika a hoʻoweliweli i ka kūpaʻa o ko mākou palekana aupuni.
Nānā o ka Plot
ʻOiai ma kāna ala kaʻa i hoʻonohonoho mau ʻia ma waena o Athens, Greece, a me Vilnius, Lithuania, i ka lā 23 o Mei, 2021, ua hoʻohuli ʻia ka Flight i Minsk, Belarus e nā mana hoʻokele ea ma Belarus no ka pane ʻana i kahi hoʻoweliweli i manaʻo ʻia o ka pōkā ma luna o ka moku. ka mokulele. ʻOiaʻiʻo, ʻaʻohe pōkā ma luna o ka mokulele. Ua hana nā luna aupuni Belarusian i ka hoʻoweliweli ma ke ʻano he mea e hoʻokō ai i ka mana ma luna o ka Flight a hoʻoikaika iā ia e hoʻohuli i kona ala i ka huakaʻi mua o Vilnius, a ma kahi o Minsk. ʻO ke kumu o ka manaʻo o ke aupuni Belarusian e hoʻohuli i ka Flight i Minsk i hiki i nā lawelawe palekana Belarusian ke hopu i kahi mea kākau moʻolelo Belarusian a me ka mea hana kālai'āina ("Individual-1") -ʻo ia ka mea hōʻino i ke aupuni Belarusian, e noho pio ana ma Lithuania, a makemake. e ke aupuni Belarusian ma luna o nā ʻōlelo hoʻopiʻi o ka hoʻoulu ʻana i ka "huhū nui"—a me ke hoa wahine a Individual-1 ("Individual-2"). ʻO ke aupuni Belarusian kipi e hoʻohuli i ka Flight ua hoʻokōʻia e, me nā mea'ē aʻe, nā luna o nā lawelawe palekana o ka moku'āina Belarusian e hana pū ana me nā luna kiʻekiʻe o ka Belarusian state navigation authority.
He aha e lawe ʻia mai kēia ʻatikala:
- The purpose of the Belarusian government's plot diverting the Flight to Minsk was so that Belarusian security services could arrest a Belarusian journalist and political activist (“Individual-1”)—who was critical of the Belarusian government, living in exile in Lithuania, and wanted by the Belarusian government on allegations of fomenting “mass unrest”—as well as Individual-1's girlfriend (“Individual-2”).
- While on its regularly-scheduled passenger route between Athens, Greece, and Vilnius, Lithuania, on May 23, 2021, the Flight was diverted to Minsk, Belarus by air traffic control authorities in Belarus in response to a purported threat of a bomb on board the aircraft.
- “We allege the defendants carried out an elaborate scheme to fake a bomb scare which forced an airplane to make an emergency landing in their country so they could arrest a dissident journalist.
