Serbian appeals court overturns ruling to extradite to Belarus a critic of its authoritarian regime

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — An appeals court in Serbia has overturned an earlier ruling that a prominent critic of the authoritarian government in Belarus should be extradited to that country and said that the case must be retried. Serbian authorities arrested Andrei Hniot on Oct. 30 at Belgrade airport, based on an Interpol warrant issued at the request of the Belarusian authorities for alleged tax evasion. In June, a Higher Court in Belgrade ruled to extradite the film director to Belarus. The appeals court in Belgrade said on its website on Wednesday that the first-instance court provided no firm evidence that Hniot evaded taxes in his country and sent the case back to the first-instance court “for a new decision.”