Journalist Andrei Gnyot has been arrested in Serbia on charges of “tax evasion”, but human rights experts say this is an excuse to extradite him to Belarus.
Andrei Gnyot wears a tracking device on his ankle in the Belgrade apartment where he is under house arrest.
But the Belarusian journalist, activist and human rights defender fears much worse could happen to him if his appeal against the tax fraud charges fails and he is extradited to Belarus.
“Everyone who was active during the protests was detained, arrested and tortured. I think that more than 50 and even more than 100 people are still being held in Belarusian prisons.”he said in an interview with Euronews.
He is referring to the protests that attempted to bring down Alexander Lukashenko in 2020, after the disputed presidential election.
Andrei Gnyot believes that the extradition request is due to his role in the protests and that the Lukashenko regime wants to capture him and all those who broadcast images of the protests.
The High Court in Belgrade has already ruled that he should be extradited to Belarus. He has appealed to the Court of Appeal and is expecting a decision on August 27. If he is returned to his country, he is certain of the fate that awaits him.
“Torture or death by torture. There are at least 12 cases of people who died in “unexpected” circumstances. They were healthy and they were all political prisoners.”he says calmly.
It is rare for European countries to extradite people to Russia, Belarus and China, as these countries are known for their lack of freedom of speech, disregard for the rule of law and rejection of most democratic norms, including the holding of free and fair elections.
Lawyer and human rights expert Nikola Kovačević speaks of a very real risk of political persecution.
“Belarus’ request to extradite Andrei Gnyot is part of a ruse to capture him so that he can later be tried for subversion of the constitutional order. All the charges brought against him were brought with the aim of making it easier for the authorities to extradite him.”
Many of Lukashenko’s critics have been subject to arbitrary arrests and harassment in Belarus.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is campaigning for his immediate release.
“As a candidate state for the European Union, Serbia should not succumb to transnational repressions on behalf of authoritarian regimes such as that of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a notorious enemy of the free press.”said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator.
Reports by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other media outlets have extensively documented incidents of torture suffered by political prisoners in Belarus.
Belarus is the third-most imprisoned country in the world, with at least 28 journalists behind bars as of December 1, 2023, when CPJ last conducted its count.
