Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Wednesday that he acted "to protect people" by diverting a Ryanair flight over Belarusian airspace and denied that a fighter jet had forced the civilian aircraft to land. "I acted lawfully to protect our people," Lukashenko told members of parliament, the Belta state-run news agency reported, adding it was an "absolute lie" that a Mig-29 fighter jet forced the flight to land in Minsk. bur-acl/jbr/jv