A Belarusian filmmaker and opposition activist, Andrei Gnyot, made a desperate appeal in a Serbian court to prevent his extradition to Belarus, warning of “inevitable torture and inevitable death” if returned. Gnyot described the Belarusian regime under Alexander Lukashenko as a “dictatorial system which tortures and kills,” pleading with judges to “please, save my life.”
Gnyot was detained upon arriving in Belgrade last October due to an international arrest warrant issued by Belarus for alleged tax evasion, which he claims is politically motivated. “I am an ordinary person who stood up against authoritarian rule,” he stated in court, emphasizing the price he has had to pay for his activism.
The Belgrade Court of Appeal is expected to issue its ruling within 30 days, potentially leading to Gnyot’s immediate removal from Serbia. He identifies as a “journalist, film director, political activist, and political prisoner” and participated in significant opposition protests in Belarus in 2020, which erupted in response to claims of electoral fraud in presidential elections. Gnyot documented these protests and co-founded SOS.BY, a movement that rallied prominent athletes against Lukashenko’s authoritarianism.
Despite an Interpol red notice against him being withdrawn after his legal team presented evidence of the political nature of the charges, Serbia continues to evaluate the extradition request from Belarus. Gnyot’s lawyer highlighted Belarus’s history of using economic charges against political opponents, recalling the case of Ales Bialiatski, a Nobel Laureate also detained under similar circumstances.
As hundreds of thousands have fled Belarus since the 2020 protests, Gnyot’s fate hangs precariously in Serbia. He has already endured seven months in prison and subsequent house arrest, where he is confined to his home for 23 hours a day.
High-profile filmmakers and artists have publicly called for Serbia not to send Gnyot back to Belarus, but previous courts have twice rejected his extradition appeals, citing a lack of understanding of the political oppression in Belarus. In his closing statements, Gnyot warned of the dire implications of extradition, urging the judges not to commit a “small mistake” that could tarnish Serbia’s historical reputation.
