On November 28, the Poznan District Court decided to refuse the extradition of public activist Dzmitry Pleskachou to Belarus.
The court recognized that the official request from Belarus for the extradition of an activist who was persecuted by the Lukashenka’s regime was politically motivated.
“There is a huge difference between the Belarusian and Polish judicial systems. In fact, several components worked. The first thing we learned about this information earlier. Our legal team has prepared documents about the danger and the situation in the country, and much more. And with all this, we came to court. We see that the prosecutor himself says that she is against Dzmitry’s expulsion to Belarus. And after that, the court took a few hours to think about it, and made a decision today at 13.30. The judge said that, of course, the human rights situation in Belarus remains the same dangerous, we will not expel, we will close the case,” said Leanid Marozau, a participant in the meeting, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s legal adviser.
According to Leanid Marozau, a representative of the Polish prosecutor’s office also stated during the court session that the demands of the Lukashenka’s regime for extradition were illegal. The refusal to extradite Dzmitry Pleskachou became possible thanks to the coordinated work of the democratic forces and the Polish lawyer who represented Dzmitry’s interests in court.