July 19, Pozirk. Interpol has deleted a red notice for Andrej Hniot, a Belarusian filmmaker currently under house arrest in Serbia, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported.
It cited the Interpol General Secretariat’s letter to the European Union delegation in Serbia.
Interpol acknowledged the political background of the journalist’s case and found the red notice inconsistent with Articles 2 and 3 of its Constitution, said the BAJ.
Serbia arrested Hniot in October 2023, but his lawyers argued that his tax evasion charges were fabricated and politically motivated.
In spring, an appellate court in Belgrade overruled a decision to hand him over to Belarus, but in late May, the Belgrade High Court ordered his extradition again.
Hniot’s persecution in Belarus may be related to video production for SOS.by, an opposition association that Belarusian police branded an extremist group.
The filmmaker has also cooperated with Current Time, a television and digital news network produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in cooperation with the Voice of America.
