Belarus has been in the news for diverting a civilian airliner flying in their airspace (but not from or to Belarus) to arrest a prominent opposition activist.
What laws were broken?
My understanding from information released so far is that KGB agents on board the plane (allegedly) phoned through a fake bomb threat requiring the plane to be diverted to Minsk.
Making a bomb threat is crime in most places (including fake bomb threats). Once the treat was made, then diverting to a nearby airport seems to be standard procedure.
So what other laws were broken? Does diverting an aircraft count as hijacking if there were no actual hijackers on board? (or maybe the KGB agents who made the threat count as hijackers even if they don't announce themselves to the pilots) Or does diverting a flight count as 'air piracy'? (if there is such a thing?)
Also, would it have made any difference if the aircraft had been diverted to Minsk for an innocent reason (fuel shortage for example) and the identity of the alleged criminal only noticed whilst the aircraft was refuelled?
