Updated at 17:53,27-03-2024

Belarus demands journalist's extradition from Russia

RFE/RL based on reporting by TASS and Interfax

Belarus demands journalist's extradition from Russia
Yuriy Baranchyk
Belarusian Prosecutor-General Alyaksandr Kanyuk says Minsk is ready to provide Russia with all the materials needed for the extradition of a senior editor of the Russian news agency Regnum.

Kanyuk told reporters in Minsk on March 17 that Yuriy Baranchyk, a Belarusian citizen, is wanted in Belarus on suspicion of "inciting racial, ethnic, religious, or other social hatred or discord."

He dismissed reports that Baranchyk is seeking political asylum in Russia as a "public relations" campaign.

Regnum is a nongovernmental online news service that covers events in Russia and other former Soviet republics.

Baranchyk was detained in Moscow on March 14 at Minsk's request.

Regnum's editor in chief, Modest Kolerov, said that a Moscow court declined to order Baranchyk held in custody on March 16 and that he was likely to be released on March 17.