Belarusian journalist and political activist Andrey Hnyot (aka Andrew Gnyot), who is under house arrest in Belgrade awaiting a final decision on his extradition to Belarus, has been removed from the Interpol wanted list.
The international police agency's warrant for Hnyot’s arrest was issued at the request of Belarus, which accuses him of tax evasion. Hnyot has denied Minsk's accusations and called them politically motivated.
"Andrey Hnyot is no longer the subject of Interpol's notification," according to a decision of the General Secretariat of Interpol. The decision was forwarded to the media on August 10 by his lawyer, Vadim Drozdov.
Hnyot said in a statement to RFE/RL that Interpol informed representatives of the European Union in Serbia that the warrant "was suspended and the data deleted due to the violation of Articles 2 and 3 of the Interpol Statute."
He said that those provisions refer to politically motivated criminal prosecution.
"As far as I know, representatives of the EU brought this important information to the attention of the government of Serbia and the judiciary. However, this did not result in my release," said Hnyot.
Hnyot pointed out that the process of his extradition is ongoing and he is under house arrest until the final decision.
"That will be my only and last chance to challenge the illegality of my extradition," he said, adding that he has not been able to receive adequate medical care and has no source of income to pay rent or buy food and medicine.
Hnyot was arrested in October 2023 at the Belgrade airport after arriving from Thailand, where he was in exile.
He spent seven months in Belgrade Central Prison before being transferred to house arrest on June 5.
The High Court in Belgrade on June 13 issued a ruling on the extradition that would send him back to Belarus, but it is not yet final.
Drozdov said that Interpol responded to his request to delete Hnyot from its information system with a decision made on August 5.
"This means that no country will be able to detain him at the request of Belarus," said Drozdov in a statement.
Hnyot fled Belarus for Thailand in 2020 after criticizing the regime and participating in massive protests that occurred after the presidential election in which authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka declared victory.
Western countries do not recognize the results of those elections, and after violence against demonstrators, the European Union imposed sanctions on Minsk.
SEE ALSO: No Escaping The Belarus 'Nightmare'? Serbian Case Tests Lukashenka's International ReachBrussels called for Hnyot’s release on June 13 a blistering warning for authorities in EU candidate Serbia, and several media and nongovernmental organizations did the same.
Hnyot 's lawyer has informed the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg about the case.
According to his statements, the court sent a letter to the authorities in Serbia that it expects that Hnyot will not be immediately extradited after a final decision by the High Court, allowing time for him to address the European Court.
Hnyot currently wears an ankle-bracelet monitor and is confinement to a modest, 20-square-meter apartment in Belgrade.
The prospect of a forced return to a regime that Hnyot describes as "torture, blood, nightmare" is motivating.
He told RFE/RL’s Balkan Service in mid-June in his first interview after his transfer to house arrest that he works "from morning to night" on his defense.