Court in Bialystok Ruled Not to Extradite Journalist at Belarus's Request

On October 22, a session of the district court in Bialystok took place, which issued a decision on the inadmissibility of extraditing Dzmitry Salauyou to the prosecuting authorities in Belarus. In August, the Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus demanded that Poland extradite the Mahiliou native, who is a forced political emigrant, writes BAJ.

According to Dzmitry Salauyou, the Polish side initially had no intention of sending him to Belarus. However, they had to go through the legal procedure after the request from the Belarusian side.

«The process took place in the Bialystok District Court. If we compare it with Belarusian realities, it's a regional court. I was thoroughly questioned about the circumstances that forced me to leave my homeland and what threatens me in Belarus.

I explained that in Belarus, two criminal cases have been initiated against me for journalistic activities — under parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus for allegedly creating an extremist formation and participating in it, and under Part 1 of Article 357 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus — allegedly for participation in a conspiracy or other actions committed with the aim of seizing power by unconstitutional means. I mentioned that my detention has been sanctioned in Belarus.

The court made a decision, according to which my extradition to the Belarusian authorities is inadmissible, because in the state requesting the extradition, there may be a violation of my freedom and rights," Dzmitry Salauyou told BAJ after receiving the official court ruling.

Now, according to Polish legislation, it will be sent for consideration to the Minister of Justice, who will make the final decision.

Dzmitry Salauyou has been living in Poland since 2021. He left his homeland after learning about his first criminal case. The fact that there was a second one was precisely stated in the Prosecutor General's Office's request for his extradition. The journalist was informed about it during a conversation at the Polish prosecutor's office this summer. At that time, he had already been on the wanted list for several years in Russia and Belarus.

Dzmitry Salauyou was the chief editor of the news portal "Mahiliou Region," mentioned in the decision of the KGB of Belarus dated November 29, 2023 (in the original text, November 19 was mistakenly stated), which refers to the recognition as an "extremist" formation of "a group of citizens united by the initiative '6TV Bielarus' and its structural unit 'Mahiliou Media' ('News of the Mahiliou Region')". The journalist does not rule out that the demand for his extradition from Poland may precede the initiation of special proceedings against him.

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