To the Court of Appeal in Belgrade and the Minister of Justice of Serbia Maja Popović:

We are calling on the Serbian authorities to prevent extradition of filmmaker Andrei Gnyot to Belarus, where he faces imprisonment, torture and even the death penalty.

There is no time left – next Tuesday, August 27th the Serbian Court of Appeal will hold the final hearing of Andrei’s case. It will decide whether he will be extradited or not.

Andrei is a Belarusian filmmaker and activist. He is known for making documentary footage during the Belarus 2020 protests and recording athletes' appeals for free and fair elections. He is being prosecuted by the Belarusian authoritarian regime for these activities. 

Andrei was arrested in Serbia in 2023 following an Interpol search request from the Belarusian government – a repeated tactic used by the Lukashenko regime to track down democracy activists around the world. Even though Interpol later cancelled the search request, Serbia has not released Andrei.

Andrei Gnyot is recognised by international human rights organisations as a political prisoner. 

As Amnesty International states, “Under international law which prohibits torture and inhuman treatment, Serbia must provide protection to Andrei Gnyot. We call on the Serbian government to ensure his safety and freedom.” Similar appeals were made by the Committee to Protect Journalists, International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, International Federation for Human Rights and other organisations.

At the moment, there are over 1300 political prisoners in Belarus, held in inhumane conditions. 

Artists for Andrei Campaign is organised by actor Mitya Savelau and film producer and director Volia Chajkouskaya, co-foundress of the Belarusian Independent Film Academy (BIFA) with the support of the European Film Academy (EFA). In July, BIFA and EFA jointly called for the immediate release of Andrei Gnyot.

More Information:

Amnesty International’s Statement

European Film Academy’s Statement

Belarusian Independent Film Academy’s Statement

Committee to Protect Journalists

Undersigned:

Mitya Savelau, actor, campaigner, Artists for Andrei Campaign organiser

Volia Chajkouskaya, film producer, film director, co-foundress of the BIFA, Artists for Andrei Campaign organiser

Agnieszka Holland, film director and screenwriter

Juliette Binoche, actress, President of the European Film Academy

Svetlana Alexievich, writer, journalist, laureate of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature

Justine Triet, film director, screenwriter

Arthur Harari, screenwriter and actor

Béla Tarr, filmmaker

Sandra Hüller, actress

Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO European Film Academy

Mark Cousins, film director, producer, writer

Srdjan Dragojević, writer, director

Mike Downey, OBE, producer, Chair European Film Academy 

Margarethe von Trotta, film director, screenwriter and actress

Wim Wenders, filmmaker, playwright and photographer

Yorgos Lanthimos, filmmaker 

Kornel Mundruczó, film and theatre director Dame Vanessa Redgrave DBE, actress

Kirill Serebrennikov, director

Vladimir Perišić, film director

Isabel Coixet, film director and screenwriter 

Lukas Dhont, film director and screenwriter 

Jasmila Žbanić, film director and screenwriter 

Mélanie Laurent, actress and filmmaker 

Damir Ibrahimović, producer

Rebecca O’Brien, producer

David Lan, CBE, playwright, theatre producer and director

Miroslav Terzic, director, writer, producer

Lambert Wilson, actor
Edward Berger, film director and screenwriter,

Cristian Mungiu, film director and screenwriter, producer

Karim Aïnouz, film director and screenwriter

Christine Bacon, co-artistic director, Ice&Fire Theatre

Ken Loach, film director and screenwriter 

Nina Hoss, actress Marco Bellocchio, film director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar, film director Pawel Pawlikowski, film director

Victor Kossakovsky, film director

Dennis Ivanov, producer

Oleh Sentsov, film director and screenwriter

Alice Diop, film director and screenwriter

Zar Amir Ebrahimi, actress and filmmaker

Jim Sheridan, film director, screenwriter and producer

Charlotte Wells, film director and screenwriter

Fernando Trueba, film director, screenwriter, producer

José Maria Morales, producer

Elena Manrique, film director and producer 

Aliaksei Paluyan, film director, screenwriter

Nicolai Khalezin M.B.E., co–founder, artistic director, Belarus Free Theatre

Natalia Kaliada M.B.E., co–founder, artistic director, Belarus Free Theatre

Guslagie Malanda, actress 

Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, film director and screenwriter

Lars Eidinger, actor

Paula Cons Varela, film director and screenwriter 

Arantxa Echevarria, film director and screenwriter 

Liz Lobato, film director and actress

Darya Zhuk, film director

Branka Bešević Gajić, film & TV director, member of the European Film Academy in Berlin 

Irena Kaciałovič, film critic

Mara Tamkovich, director

Vlada Senkova, film director, screenwriter

Andrei Kutsila, film director

Tanya Hatsura-Yavorska, director, WATCH DOCS Belarus

Biljana Prvanovic, film producer

Sergey Shabohin, artist, editor in chief of KALEKTAR.org

Nikola Ljuca, film and theatre director

Jasper Rischen, filmmaker

Katerina Jebb, artist, photographer

Bojan Vuletic, film director, scriptwriter,  member of European Film Academy, Serbian Union of Film Directors

Sasha Kulak, film director

Aaron Li-Hill, Canadian-American-British visual artist Maryna Yakubovich, actress, theatre director

Maryna Yurevich, actress, theatre director

Siniša Cvetić, film director

Maxim Didenko, theatre director

Aliaksei Vainilovich, actor

Maksim Shved, film director

Janko Baljak, film and TV director, professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade

Stefan Ivančić, film director, producer and festival programmer

Maryna Zdoronkova, actress, theatre director

Maryia Piatrovich, actress

Anna Savchenko, film director

Mikałaj Stońka, actor

Hanna Komar, poet, writer, translator

Pavel Haradnitski, actor, theatre director, musician

Olga Shparaga, philosopher

Sasha Filipenko, writer, journalist Miriam Margolyes, actress

Anton Dolin, film critic and journalist

Galina Altman, composer, musician

Ashley Karaweigh, artistic director Metalore Theatre

Danijel Hočevar, producer

Michael Lockshin, film director, writer

Ognjen Glavonić, writer, director

Boban Skerlić, writer, director

Srdan Golubović, film director

Marko Grba Singh, filmmaker and festival programmer

Maša Nešković, film and TV director

Tanja Brzakovic, film director

Salomé Jashi, film director

Lara Bajraktarevic, production manager

Ena Bajraktarević, producer

Nana Ekvtimishvili,  film director, writer

Mariam Chachia, film director, producer

Taciana Niadbaj, poet, PEN BElarus President, human rights defender, publisher

Mina Leontijević, writer, production coordinator

Jessica Hausner, film director and screenwriter

Jelena Mitrović, producer

Nikolina Vučetić Zečević, producer

Maja Popović Milojević, producer

Čarna Vučinić, producer

Stefan Ivančić, producer

Milan Stojanović, producer

Branislav Trifunović, actor, producer

Nataša Damnjanović, producer

Dušan Vojvodić, producer

Snežana van Houwelingen, producer

Milena Šmigić, producer

Jelena Angelovski, producer

Dragana Jovović, producer

Mirko Bojović, producer

Miloš Pušić, producer

Vuk Ršumović, producer, director

Miloš Ljubomirović, producer, director

Roni Mahadav Levin, festival director

Judith Colell,  Catalan Film Academy 

Davide Abbatescianni, Film Critic, Journalist

Organisations Endorsing the Letter

GFI - Georgian Film Institute

DOCA - Documentary Association Georgia

Ukrainian Film Academy

National Association of filmmakers of Ukraine

This list is not comprehensive. The most full updated list is here.