In late May, Belarus forced a Ryanair plane to land in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. The plane was flying from Greece to Lithuania, but was in Belarusian airspace. Local forces cited a “bomb threat” as the reason for the stop. After hours in Minsk, officials arrested two passengers: Roman Protasevich, an exiled Belarusian journalist, and his girlfriend. After not being seen for weeks, Protasevich has reemerged on Belarusian state TV. Once an outspoken critic of the Belarusian regime, he changed his rhetoric. He apologized and said that Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus’ dictator, is the valid leader. Many humans rights groups however found that Protasevich appeared to have been tortured and was being forced to make this statement.

In this episode, Drew and Alex look into how shocking it is that a private airline can just be forced down a man can be taken, no questions asked. They can only imagine what ideas this is giving the world’s dictators. Drew and Alex also talk about Belarus and its close ties to Russia. Alex Lukashenko, has met with Putin since the incident and seems emboldened by their alliance. Lukashenko doesn’t believe in fair elections, especially after stealing an election last summer. The entrenched dictator is considered Europe’s last dictator and he is also somewhat of a remnant of the Soviet era, the anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917 is still a national holiday, and he controls state owned factories and companies. The US and Europe face a serious dilemma with Belarus. Do they punish Russia? Sanction Belarus? Or isolate the country?