St. PETERSBURG, Russia -- A court in Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, has ordered Belarusian national Andrey Russkikh to be held at a detention center for 40 days while a decision on his possible extradition to Belarus is made.
Russkikh, who fled Belarus for Russia in December, is wanted in Minsk for allegedly insulting the country's authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and inciting social hatred with his online posts.
If extradited and convicted, Russkikh faces up to seven years in prison.
Another court in St. Petersburg ruled on June 1 to extradite another Belarusian activist, Yana Pinchuk, to Minsk, where she faces charges for protesting the disputed August 2020 election that kept Lukashenka in power despite opposition accusations that the voting was rigged.
Police in St. Petersburg arrested Pinchuk on November 1 at the request of Belarus.
Pinchuk is wanted in Belarus on several charges, including inciting national hatred, calls for activities that damaged national security, and slander. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.
Belarusian authorities accuse Pinchuk of administering the Vitsebsk97% Telegram channel, which was critical of Lukashenka's regime and has been labeled as extremist in Belarus.
Pinchuk rejects all the charges, saying she immediately closed her Telegram channel after it was officially designated as extremist.
In December, Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Pinchuk as a political prisoner and demanded her immediate release.