Serbia’s Higher Court in Belgrade decided on Thursday to extradite Belarusian filmmaker Andrei Gnet to Belarus pursuant to the Law on International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and the interstate agreement Serbia and Belarus made on January 3, 2019.

Gnet is accused by the Belarus government of tax evasion under Article 243(2) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. He was detained by the Serbian border service in Belgrade on October 30, 2023 for being on the Belarusian Interpol Bureau’s international wanted list. The bureau requested Gnet to be extradited for criminal prosecution. He will likely face a prison term if extradited to Belarus for criminal prosecution.

Gnet disagreed with the court’s decision to extradite him. He said that the court made a bad decision and that he is preparing to appeal against the decision. Gnet and his lawyers believe that his case is politically motivated. In addition, a lawyer, Mikhail Kirilyuk, disagreed with the court charging Gnet under Article 243 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

Gnet is a 41-year-old director and journalist. He was one of the founders of the Free Association of Athletes of Belarus, which was designated as an extremist formation by Belarusian state security after the association supported protests against the disputed presidential election results in 2020.