Pratasevich appeared at the press conference a few hours after a Belarusian association of former law enforcement officers cited unnamed sources saying it was Alexander Lukashenko, the President, who had broken Pratasevich’s nose.

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Sofya Sapega, Pratasevich’s girlfriend who was arrested alongside him, has been formally charged with “inciting social hatred and enmity”, officials revealed on Monday. The Belarusian authorities flatly denied independent reports that they scrambled a fighter jet to force Pratasevich’s flight to Vilnius to land in Minsk.

“There was no interception, no forced diversion from the state border or forced landing of the Ryanair plane,” said Air Force Chief Igor Golub.

Most European countries have since closed their airspace to Belarusian planes and started bypassing the country in protest at what they term a “high-jacking”. Pratasevich is the former editor-in-chief of Nexta, a Telegram news channel that covered the huge protests against Lukashenko’s regime following his widely disputed re-election.