Air travel since 9/11 has changed. Departing passengers arrive at the airport 2 to 3 hours before their flights, go through an average of 3 security checks, remove their footwear, go through body scans, luggage scans, interviews by the immigration officials, before proceeding to their assigned gates which can be located at the opposite side of the airport. During inflight, the last thing a traveller needs to know is that the plane has a possible bomb in it. This was what happened to Ryanair on May 23rd, 2021.

When the plane entered Belarusian air space, a fighter jet appeared and forced it to land in Minsk but not before traffic control in Belarus informed the pilot of a bomb threat in the plane. No bomb was found and Ryanair continued its flight to Vilnius, minus two passengers – Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega. The unexpected deviation was a ruse to arrest a Belarusian dissident and his girlfriend.

Roman Protasevich (in the pic) is the editor of Poland-based Nexta Live Channel which in 2020 broadcast huge opposition protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko over rigged election results.  Nexta’s footage showing police crackdowns on protestors became fodder for international media even when Belarus authorities were reluctant to allow foreign media to report from within. Immediately, the European Union agreed to impose sectoral sanctions on Belarus preventing EU airlines from flying in Belarus air space, a big blow to the economy of that country. US President Biden referred to what happened to Ryanair being diverted from its route and the subsequent arrest of Protasevich as “a direct affront to international norms” and asked his administration to collaborate on “appropriate options to hold accountable those responsible”.

Two days later, another journalist was arrested at Yangon Airport in Myanmar as he prepared to board a plane for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 37-year-old from Detroit, Michigan, was working for the news organization Frontier Myanmar at the time of his arrest. A US State Department official said that its office is monitoring the situation but due to “privacy considerations”, it cannot issue any comment at the present.

In 2019, the Philippines own Maria Ressa (in the pic below, from her Twitter profile) was arrested upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Rappler, a media company of which she is the the Chief Executive Officer, was under contention for not being fully-owned by Filipinos. The day prior to her arrival, a Philippine court issued an arrest warrant for her alleged violation of the Anti-Dummy Law. A high profile Philippine journalist and Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2018, Maria is a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte.

These are scary times for journalists working in foreign countries. I don’t have any plans to go to Belarus or Myanmar yet, I want to know what’s happening in those countries and how these affect the balance of power worldwide. While I may visit my old country, the Republika ng Pilipinas, every chance I get, I am also wary about the treatment of the present administration there towards journalists.