European artists urge Serbia to block extradition of Belarusian filmmaker facing persecution

More than 70 European artists and film directors have signed an open letter urging Serbia not to extradite a Belarusian filmmaker who is a vocal critic of Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian government in Minsk.

The filmmaker, Andrei Gynot, is wanted in Belarus for alleged tax evasion, but the letter warns that he could face imprisonment, torture, or even the death penalty if sent back.

Signatories of the letter include French Chocolat actress Juliette Binoche, Belarusian Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich, Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, Ukrainian director Oleh Sentsov and Polish director Agniezka Holland.

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Gynot is a prominent Belarusian film director and an outspoken critic of the country's President Alexander Lukashenko. He filmed mass protests that erupted in 2020 against Lukashenko’s disputed reelection, and covered the harsh crackdown on dissent the government unleashed in response, before fleeing the country to Serbia.

He was arrested in Serbia last October based on an Interpol warrant requested by Belarus. Despite contesting his extradition in court, a final appeal is scheduled for Tuesday. Gynot claims the Belarusian government is targeting him for his activism against the regime’s human rights abuses and election fraud.

“We openly opposed the dictatorship, human rights violations, and electoral fraud in Belarus in 2020,” Hniot has said.

The letter in his support said that requesting an Interpol warrant is “a tactic repeatedly used by the Lukashenko regime to track down pro-democracy activists around the world.”

"It is illegal under international law to send someone to a country where they will most certainly face torture,” said Volia Chajkouskaya, a co-founder of the Belarusian Independent Film Academy (BIFA) and one of the organisers of a campaign in Gynot's support.

“Now, it is a matter of life and death for this filmmaker. If extradited, Andrei faces torture, years in inhumane conditions or worse,” prominent Polish film director Agnieszka Holland said in a statement.

Belarusian rights group Viasna reports that over 65,000 people have faced political repression in Belarus since 2020, with more than 1,300 currently imprisoned as political prisoners, including Viasna's founder and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.

At least six political prisoners have died in custody.