Serbian appeals court overturns ruling to extradite to Belarus a critic of its authoritarian regime

BELGRADE, Serbia — An appeals court in Serbia on Wednesday overturned an earlier court ruling that a prominent critic of the authoritarian government in Belarus should be extradited to that country, and said that the case must be retried. The appeals court in Belgrade said on its website on Wednesday that the first-instance court provided no firm evidence that Hniot evaded taxes in his country and sent the case back to the first-instance court “for a new decision.” This is the third time that the appeals court overturns a ruling by a Higher Court that the 41-year-old should be extradited to Belarus. The director and activist told one of the court hearings in Belgrade that Lukshenko’s regime wanted to punish him for his activism and that he could face torture or even death if returned to Belarus. “We openly opposed the dictatorship, human rights violations, and electoral fraud in Belarus in 2020,” the letter said, adding that requesting an Interpol warrant is “a tactic repeatedly used by the Lukashenko regime to track down pro-democracy activists around the world.” Hniot has been released from a Serbian prison but is only allowed to leave his apartment for one hour a day and must wear a tracking ankle bracelet.