THE WORLD

The Belarusian director begs Serbia not to extradite him

Andrei Gnyot

Andrei Gnyot, Belarusian filmmaker and opposition activist, has made a last passionate appeal to a court in Serbia not to extradite him to Minsk. In it he warned that he will face "torture and inevitable death" if he returns there.

"Please, save my life", was his call to the panel of three judges, while he described Belarus under Alexander Lukashenko as a "dictatorial system that tortures and kills".

Gnyot was arrested after arriving in Belgrade in October last year on an international arrest warrant issued by Belarus on allegations of tax evasion.

He said that he is a simple person who opposed the authoritarian government and that now he was being forced to pay the price, the BBC reported.

The Court of Appeal in Belgrade has 30 days to decide.