# Belarus's Prosecutor General's Office refuses to extradite Antanas Kandrotas, known as Celofanas, to Lithuania

- URL: https://syn.by/en/politics/international-relations/belarus-refuses-extradite-antanas-kandrotas/
- Published: 2026-11-05T18:30:12+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T18:30:12+00:00
- Section: International Relations
- Language: en
- RU edition: https://syn.by/ru/politika/mezhdunarodnye-otnosheniya/genprokuratura-belarusi-otkazalas-vydat-litve-kandrotasa.md
- BE edition: https://syn.by/palityka/mizhnarodnyya-adnosiny/hienprakuratura-bielarusi-admovilasia-vydac-litvie.md

> The decision of the Belarusian side was reported by Lithuania's Ministry of Justice. Kandrotas has been in Belarus since May; in Lithuania he was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in a financial crimes case.

![Antanas Kandrotas — Belarus's Prosecutor General's Office refuses to extradite Antanas Kandrotas, known as Celofanas, to Lithuania](https://syn.by/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/antanas-kandrotas-6325-1024x585.webp)

The Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus has refused to extradite blogger and activist Antanas Kandrotas, also known as Celofanas, to Lithuania. The press service of Lithuania's Ministry of Justice reported this on 5 November.

The Lithuanian agency sent the extradition request to the Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office in August. The Ministry of Justice initiated the extradition procedure at the request of the Kaunas Regional Court; the ministry informed that court of the Belarusian side's refusal.

In June, the Court of Appeal of Lithuania sentenced Kandrotas to 3.5 years in prison in a financial crimes case: illegal fuel trading and tax evasion. The sentence has come into force but cannot be enforced while Kandrotas is outside Lithuania.

Shortly before the final trial, Kandrotas violated his preventive measure and left for Belarus. He was under a written undertaking not to leave the country in a public-order case, and in early May he himself said he was in Belarus. According to Belarusian state media, he arrived in Minsk on 3 May.

In Belarus, Kandrotas gave interviews to state propagandists, in which he presented himself as a "political refugee". He criticised the Lithuanian authorities and said the claims on which the criminal prosecution is based were fictitious. Since then he has repeatedly appeared in Belarusian propaganda programmes.

The Kaunas Regional Court issued a European arrest warrant for Kandrotas on 29 June 2026. Lithuania's Deputy Minister of Justice Martynas Dobrovolskis said: "Lithuania seeks to ensure that A. Kandrotas serves the prison sentence imposed on him, and all measures have been taken to that end. The European arrest warrant that has been issued makes it possible to detain the person as soon as he is on the territory of the EU or its partners."

This is not Kandrotas's only case. In September 2025 he was sentenced to 4 years for taking part in the 2021 riots near the Seimas, and in March 2026 to 1 year in a case of incitement of hatred against a former member of the Seimas and violation of public order. Both sentences have been appealed and have not come into force. He had previously served time in prison but was released early in 2025.

In August 2026, Lithuania's Ministry of Justice sent Minsk an official extradition request.