Serbian court overturns order to extradite prominent anti-Lukashenko activist to Belarus

Serbia’s Court of Appeal has reversed a decision to extradite prominent anti-Lukashenko activist Andrey Gnyot to his native Belarus, the Serbian affiliate of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Wednesday.

Belarusian activist Andrey Gnyot was arrested by Serbian police upon his arrival in Belgrade in October on an arrest warrant issued in his name by Interpol at the request of Belarus, which claimed to suspect him of tax evasion.

Gnyot had been sought by the Minsk government since August 2020, when he co-founded the Free Association of Athletes with basketball player Yelena Leuchanka and handball coach Konstantin Yakovlev, as nationwide anti-Lukashenko protests shook the country.

The athletes filmed video messages that Gnyot then posted online, which ultimately led to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) cancelling its plans to hold that summer’s world championship in Belarus, a personal blow to the Belarusian dictator, who is a well-known hockey fanatic.

The court’s decision means that Gnyot’s case will be sent back to a Belgrade court for a third review.

The activist himself has argued that if he is deported to Belarus, he faces torture by law enforcement officers and even death. Belarusian human rights activists have backed his claim, noting that the authorities in Belarus often disguise political cases as economic ones and use Interpol to arrest its political opponents.

About 500 cultural figures from around the world, including Nobel laureate Svetlana Aleksievich, Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, and Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov have signed an open letter in support of the director, who has suggested he’d rather end his life than return to Belarus.