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The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) said on June 19 that it agreed with the opinion of the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) that the Serbian Court of Appeal should not grant a request by the authorities in Belarus to extradite journalist Andrey Gniot to that country.
According to media reports confirmed by Gniot, the Higher Court in Belgrade ruled on May 31 that Gniot be extradited to Belarus for tax evasion. Gniot, spoke to the Committee for the Protection of Journalist, and the decision was made public on June 13.
The authorities at home charged Gniot with tax evasion, for having allegedly failed to pay EUR300,000 ($323,600) in taxes between 2012 and 2018. He has dismissed the tax evasion charges, and his lawyers say the persecution is politically motivated.
Gniot, a filmmaker, worked with a number of independent news outlets, including Radio Svoboda, during the 2020 protests demanding the resignation of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko following the country's election. The authorities in Serbia arrested Gniot in Belgrade on Oct. 30, 2023, based on an Interpol warrant issued by the Belarusian Interpol Bureau.
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