His fate depends on Belgrade: Interpol has lifted the arrest warrant, will Serbia extradite journalist Andrej Gnjot to Belarus?

The Court of Appeal in Belgrade concluded a hearing in the middle of the week to review the case of Belarusian activist and journalist Andrei Gnjot and his possible extradition to Belarus.

Gnjot has been under house arrest in Belgrade since 5 June.

In a brief statement to FoNet after the hearing at the Court of Appeal, Gnjot said that he expects justice and a positive decision from the court so that he can go home, which is currently not Belarus.

“Justice and truth are on my side, I have nothing to hide,” said Gnjot, who thanked the Serbs who are with him.

“Thank you for being with me, I am with you and this is important for everyone, this is a matter of justice”, Gnjot added.

The decision on Gnjot’s extradition to Belarus was taken by the Belgrade High Court in May, but is not yet final. After Gnjot and his lawyers lodged an appeal, the final decision of the Court of Appeal is pending.

At the end of October 2023, Gnjot was arrested at Belgrade airport following an Interpol warrant issued for him by Belarus.

This critic of the Belarusian regime is accused in Minsk of alleged tax evasion.

Interpol has withdrawn the arrest warrant for Gnjot

Filip  Sofijanić, Andrei Gnjot’s lawyer, said in a statement to Danas that despite the 90-day legal deadline, he expected the case to be resolved in three to four weeks.

“I am optimistic and I expect the court to rule in favour of my client, because all they are accusing him of is ‘legal fracking’.”

Sofijanić also confirmed that Interpol had revoked the arrest warrant for Gnjota, explaining that it was “politically motivated”.

Asked whether Interpol’s decision could influence the decision of the Court of Appeal in Belgrade, Sofijanić explained that the removal of Gnjot from Interpol’s database has no legal weight.

He also pointed out that although Serbia and Belarus had signed an extradition treaty (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia – International Treaties, No 10/2021), there were also international human rights conventions that Serbia had signed.

Recall that, among others, Serbia signed the European Convention on Human Rights on 3 April 2003 and ratified it on 3 March 2004, when it entered into force for the Republic of Serbia.

By ratifying this Convention, the Republic of Serbia accepted the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Courts in the Republic of Serbia and other state authorities are obliged to interpret the provisions of national legislation in accordance with the provisions of the ECHR and the case law of the ECtHR.

In their decisions, they refer to the provisions of the ECHR, as well as to the standards established in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights.

EU calls for Gnjot’s release

The European Union has called for Gnjot’s release, as have several media and NGOs in Serbia. Gnjot’s case has been brought to the attention of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Alexander Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus for 30 years and is accused of repressing political dissidents.

Dozens of European directors, actors and other artists have called on the Serbian authorities not to extradite Gnjot, warning that he faces “imprisonment, torture, even the death penalty” if he returns to Belarus.

The artist’s open letter was published on 26 August and reported in the UK Guardian.

Gnjot is one of the thousands of Belarusian citizens who took part in mass demonstrations in 2020 challenging the electoral victory of authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Gnjot is the founder of the Free Association of Athletes (SOS BY), which is considered an extremist organisation in Belarus.

In June 2021, when he received an unsigned subpoena to appear “as a witness” at the Belarusian Investigative Office, his lawyers advised him to leave Belarus because such subpoenas indicated that the Belarusian authorities wanted to arrest him.

He came to Serbia from Thailand, where he was in exile. And the reason, as he points out, was work – that is, planned filming.

He spent seven months in Belgrade’s Central Prison before being transferred to house arrest on 5 June.

There are more than 1500 political prisoners in Belarusian jails. They include journalists, human rights activists and politicians.

Between 200,000 and 500,000 Belarusians fled their homeland after the crackdown on anti-regime protests in 2020./The Geopost/