'Just shut up Femi!' Outrage as Remainer compares UK to 'Europe's Last Dictatorship'

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    Dominic Raab tells UK airlines to avoid Belarus airspace

    Commenting on the arrest of Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, Femi made a comparison between post-Brexit Britain and the former Soviet republic. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered a Lithuania-bound Ryanair flight carrying Mr Protasevich, 26, to land in Minsk on Sunday where authorities detained him.

    The move drew international condemnation and prompted Lithuania, Belarus’s neighbour and NATO member, to call for a response from the military alliance.

    The whereabouts of the journalist, who is a prominent critic of President Lukashenko’s regime, remain unknown, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Monday.

    There are fears he could face the death penalty.

    Belarus is the only country on the continent where capital punishment is legal.

    Pro-EU activist Femi sought to draw comparisons between the eastern European nation and the UK.

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    Femi compared the UK to a dictatorship over the controversial Policing Bill (Image: GETTY)

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    President Lukashenko has been dubbed Europe’s last dictator (Image: GETTTY)

    President Lukashenko, who counts Russian President Vladimir Putin as an ally, has been dubbed Europe’s last dictator by critics.

    But Femi said rather than criticise the beleaguered leader, Britons should look closer to home.

    He suggested Belarus was nothing more than a prediction of what the UK will look like if a Conservative Prime Minister remains in Number 10.

    He tweeted: “Belarus, the only other European country that uses our FPTP voting system, just arrested the organiser of last year’s protest.

    “Belarus is often called Europe’s Last Dictatorship, but really it’s the UK’s Ghost of Tory Future.”

    READ MORE: Ryanair blasts Belarus for aviation ‘piracy’ – statement IN FULL

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    Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich was arrested on Sunday (Image: GETTY)

    He added the hashtag #PolicingBill to his tweet and argued that the curbs on protests contained in the proposed legislation are disproportionate.

    He pointed to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, a mammoth piece of proposed legislation that would give officers more powers to shut down protests deemed noisy or overly disruptive.

    If passed into law, the bill would give forces across England and Wales greater powers to curb non-violent protest and those convicted would be liable to face fines or jail terms.

    Femi continued: “To anyone who thinks I’m exaggerating… PLEASE, tell me why else a government would give itself the power to arrest people for simply being noisy at a protest.

    “I’m waiting? There’s a reason it’s historically called Creeping Dictatorship!'”

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    Protests in support of Roman Protasevich in Kiev, Ukraine (Image: GETTY)

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    Critics say Belarus is Europe’s last dictatorship (Image: GETTY)

    He argued the bill “weakens our ability to call out regimes like Belarus for arresting protest organisers”.

    He said “fixing the UK by pointing to warning countries helps us defend those countries in future” and insisted the “Tories are obviously the core problem”.

    Critics were quick to hit back at his tweets.

    One man said he should “just shut up” while another told him “don’t use the situation in Belarus to try and make a case.”

    And one woman responded: “I don’t disagree with your point, but you appear to be sweeping the Belarus situation aside here. Not everything is about the UK.”

    Another Twitter user said while he understood Femi’s sentiment, “this comparison is still too stretched”.

    Western countries have denounced Minsk’s action as “state piracy”.

    On Monday Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said further sanctions were being considered against the Lukashenko administration and Belarus’s ambassador in London had been summoned for a dressing down.

    Planes have also been instructed to avoid Belarusian airspace, with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying he had instructed the Civil Aviation Authority to request airlines avoid

    Belarusian airspace “in order to keep passengers safe”.

    He also suspended the operating permit for Belavia, the country’s state-owned airline.

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    Putin is a key ally of Lukashenko (Image: GETTTY)

    Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said it was a “state-sponsored hijacking” and claimed agents from Russia’s KGB were also on board the flight.

    He told Newstalk: “I think it’s very frightening for the crew, for the passengers who were held under armed guard, had their bags searched.

    “It was clear it appears that the intent of the Russian authorities was to remove a journalist and his travelling companion.

    “We believe there was also some KGB agents offloaded from the aircraft as well.”



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