Replies to post #375630 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Hi, Homebrew. Thank you. Had forgotten - Plane hypocrisy of leaders in condemnation of Belarus

Diverted Ryanair flight | Jenny Harries | Other lives | Charles, Prince of Wales | Funny pub signs


US and European leaders have condemned Belarus for forcing a Ryanair flight
carrying an opposition activist to land, notes Roshan Pedder, but seem to
have forgotten about a similar incident concerning Edward Snowden.
Photograph: EPA

Letters

Tue 25 May 2021 03.12 AEST
Last modified on Tue 25 May 2021 14.19 AEST

US and European leaders have rightly condemned Belarus for forcing a Ryanair flight carrying an opposition activist to land in Minsk (Report, 23 May). Would these be the same European governments that, in 2013, forced a plane .. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-bolivia-plane-vienna .. carrying the Bolivian president to divert and land in Austria because of suspicions that the whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board? The US didn’t condemn that, claiming it was “a matter for European authorities”.
Roshan Pedder
West Molesey, Surrey

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57240770

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Bolivian president's jet rerouted amid suspicions Edward Snowden on board

France and Portugal accused of refusing entry to their airspace, while plane lands in Vienna with no sign of Snowden

Dan Roberts in Washington and agencies @RobertsDan
Wed 3 Jul 2013 23.03 AEST

VIDEO

Bolivia reacted with fury after a plane carrying the country's president home from Russia was diverted to Vienna amid suspicions that it was carrying the surveillance whistleblower, Edward Snowden.

France and Portugal were accused of withdrawing permission for the plane, carrying the president, Evo Morales, from energy talks in Moscow, to pass through their airspace.

Officials in both Austria and Bolivia said Snowden was not on the plane. The Bolivian foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, said: "We don't know who invented this lie. We want to denounce to the international community this injustice with the plane of President Evo Morales."

[...]

The White House said the issue was a matter for European authorities and declined to comment further.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-bolivia-plane-vienna

Not quite the same as it wasn't a civilian airplane, still close enough to be seen in a similar light.

Thanks for the reminder.