Andrej HNIOT
Andrej Hniot, a Belarusian filmmaker, journalist, and activist, was arrested upon his arrival in Belgrade on 30 October 2023, on the basis of an Interpol arrest warrant issued at the request of the Belarusian authorities on alleged charges of tax evasion (Article 243.2 of the Belarusian Criminal Code), which carries up to seven years in prison. Hniot denied any wrongdoings, arguing that these charges were fabricated and in retaliation for his journalistic work and political activism.
On 31 May 2024, Serbia’s High Court ruled in favour of Hniot’s extradition to Belarus. Hniot was placed under house arrest on 5 June 2024, after spending seven months in detention in Belgrade Central Prison, where he said he was not provided with adequate medical care and his health badly deteriorated. Under house arrest, Hniot had to wear a tracking ankle bracelet and was only allowed to leave his apartment for one hour a day. In August, the Interpol arrest warrant was withdrawn, due to violations of provisions of the Interpol Statute relating to politically motivated prosecutions. On 11 September 2024, the Court of Appeal in Belgrade overturned an earlier decision to extradite him to Belarus, though ordered the case to be retried. Following sustained pressure, Hniot was freed from house arrest on 31 October 2024 and subsequently allowed to leave Serbia. He held a press conference in Germany on 2 November, where he recalled his ordeal and shared details of his release. PEN International campaigned for his release and understands that the extradition process in Serbia is still ongoing and continues to call on the Serbian authorities to drop the case against him.
Born on 7 July 1982, Andrej Hniot is a Belarusian filmmaker, journalist, activist and co-founder of the Free Association of Athletes SOS-BY, which notably played a role in the cancellation of the 2021 Hockey World Cup in Belarus and was subsequently labelled ‘extremist’ by the Belarusian authorities. Hniot also collaborated with a range of independent news outlets during the 2020 protests that swept through Belarus following the disputed presidential elections that saw Aliaksandr Lukašenka return to a sixth term in office.