An appeals court in Brescia has rejected Belarus’ request to extradite Karina Zdanevich-Spychalska, a citizen of Belarus and Poland. She was detained in February on the basis of an Interpol warrant.
“I thank the judges for understanding the situation and for allowing me to return to Poland, the country where my entire life and my two children are. Through these Interpol arrest warrants, Belarus persecutes those who oppose the regime, and the next step should be to have them cancelled in order to prevent similar situations from happening in the future,” she told Il Giorno.
As previously reported, Karina was detained in early February at Orio al Serio Airport under an arrest warrant issued in 2021 by a deputy prosecutor in Bieraście. She is accused of “intentional economic insolvency,” or bankruptcy allegedly committed in 2017–2018. The woman believes the warrant is linked to her political activities in 2020. Karina spent five days in a prison in Bergamo before being released to stay with acquaintances in Milan under reporting obligations. In mid-May, the restrictive measure imposed on her was lifted, and she returned to her family in Poland. However, she remained obliged to attend court hearings.
On June 11, the proceedings in the Italian court concluded with a decision refusing her extradition.
According to Il Giorno, Ewa Adamczyk, Poland’s vice-consul in Milan, attended the hearing alongside Karina Zdanevich-Spychalska. Lawyers representing the Belarusian democratic forces also submitted an expert opinion stating that, if extradited, she would face “torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, and persecution for her political views.”
