A Capitol riot suspect who fled the US has reportedly been granted asylum in Belarus.
Evan Neumann, 48, a resident of California, is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for his role in the 6 January 2021 insurrection, when former president Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol Hill to oppose Joe Biden’s election as president.
Mr Neumann sold his house and left the US after he got wind of the charges. He fled first to Ukraine and then crossed over on foot to Belarus in August.
“US citizen Evan Neumann has received refugee status in Belarus,” Belarus’ state-owned news agency Belta said in a tweet on Tuesday.
“The document was handed to him today in the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Brest Regional Executive Committee.”
The US does not have an extradition treaty with Belarus.
Mr Neumann told Belta that he had “mixed feelings” about the matter.
“I am glad Belarus took care of me. I am upset to find myself in a situation where I have problems in my own country,” he added.
Mr Neumann was charged in July on 14 charges, including assaulting a police officer and engaging in physical violence on Capitol grounds.
He is also accused of punching two officers at the Capitol during the insurrection and using a metal barricade as a “battering ram” to strike officers who were trying to stop the mob.
He rejected the charges against him in an interview in November to Belarusian state television.
“I do not believe that I have committed any crime,” he said. “One of the accusations was very upsetting. It is alleged that I hit a police officer. That is baseless.”
Mr Neumann had asked for political asylum in Belarus, claiming that he had faced “political persecution” in the US.
In a video released by Belta on Tuesday, Mr Neumann can be seen receiving a document from an immigration official confirming his refugee status in the country.
“Now you are completely under the protection of the Republic of Belarus,” the official said, according to BBC News.
Mr Neumann said he planned to live in the city of Brest. “I have started a life here,” he said.
