MOSCOW, March 19 – RAPSI. The Swedish Prosecutor General's Office has launched a criminal investigation into the plane that illegally crossed the border and dropped teddy bears over Belarus, Agence France-Presse reported.

A Swedish plane crossed Belarusian airspace in early July 2012, and discharged over Minsk and around the country teddy bears equipped with posters supporting freedom of speech. They were dubbed the "teddy bear paratroopers" by the media.

Belarus appealed to Lithuania and Sweden for legal assistance to investigate the case.

In early January, the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office announced that it has completed the prejudicial inquiry. The prosecutors pinpointed two Swedish citizens as suspects in the case. In this regard, Lithuania appealed to the relevant Swedish authorities, asking them to continue the investigation.

“In accordance with international agreements between Sweden and Lithuania, there is a legal base for the Swedish side to hold the investigation, as Swedish citizens are involved in the case,” the Swedish Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.

Two personnel members of the Swedish Studio Total advertising company, who had earlier taken responsibility for the incident, have refused to go to the Belarusian State Security Agency where they were invited for a talk to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Belarus has also initiated a criminal investigation over the case.

Following the incident, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko dismissed State Border Committee Chairman Igor Rachkovsky and Air Force and Air Defense Commander Dmitry Pakhmelkin.

The border guard who failed to report to his superiors the plane that illegally crossed the border was sentenced to two years in a high security prison.