Belarusian journalist and activist Andrej Gnjot (Андрэй Гнёт), who is currently under house arrest by the Serbian authorities in Belgrade, Serbia, while awaiting a decision on his extradition to Belarus, announced that Interpol has removed him from its wanted list.
On 25 June 2024, Interpol’s General Secretariat informed European Union (EU) representatives in Serbia that the red notice against him was canceled, and the associated data was deleted due to violations of Articles 2 and 3 of Interpol’s Constitution.
According to Interpol a Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. It is based on an arrest warrant or court order issued by the judicial authorities in the requesting country. Member countries apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person.
Red Notices are published by INTERPOL at the request of a member country, and must comply with INTERPOL’s Constitution and Rules.
Despite this development, Gnjot remains under house arrest as the extradition process to Belarus is still ongoing. Although EU representatives reportedly informed the Serbian government and judiciary about the cancellation of the red notice, it has not led to his release.
The red notice was originally issued at the request of Belarus, which accuses Gnjot of alleged tax evasion. However, Gnjot has consistently denied these charges, calling them politically motivated.
Gnjot was arrested in October 2023 at Belgrade airport after arriving from Thailand, where he had been living in exile. Gnjot fled Belarus for Thailand in 2020 after criticizing the regime and participating in protests following the presidential election. He spent seven months in Belgrade’s Central Prison before being transferred to house arrest on 5 June 2024.
The Higher Court in Belgrade, Serbia, has issued a ruling approving his extradition to Belarus, although the decision is not yet final. The appeals court in Belgrade, as last possibility to stop his extradition, has scheduled a hearing on his case for 27 August 2024. The hearing will be public and open. SEEMO plans to send a representative to the hearing.
You can read the previous SEEMO information about this case here: https://seemo.org/ressources/29-june-2024-urgent-appeal-to-serbian-authorities-to-protect-andrey-gnyot-from-extradition-to-belarus/
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the continued house arrest of Belarusian journalist and activist Andrej Gnjot, despite Interpol’s cancellation of the red notice against him due to its politically motivated nature. Seemo urges the Serbian authorities to immediately release Gnjot from house arrest, as his detention contradicts international human rights standards and undermines press freedom.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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