Alexander Barankov fled to Ecuador from Belarus after claiming to have unearthed corruption there as a military investigator.
Ecuador gave him refugee status two years ago, but in June police came for him and took him to jail.
His Ecuadorean partner Mabel Andrade is distraught as she waits for more information about the case.
"I'm worried for his health - for his mind’s health," she said. "He’s worried, really worried, for his life now."
Mr Barankov was arrested when Belorussian leader Alexander Lukashenko came to Ecuador and met its president, Rafael Correa.
Just like WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Mr Barankov used the internet to expose wrongdoing - in his case in a blog he ran about oppression back home called belorussialibre.blogspot.com.
But he has been treated very differently to Mr Assange.
Far from being protected by Ecuador, Mr Barankov has been locked up in one of Latin America’s most notorious jails, a 19th Century prison on the outskirts of Quito.
Ecuadorean authorities are acting on a Belorussian request to extradite him.
Ms Andrade said police have told Mr Barankov he has been stripped of his refugee status. The charges he faces there means he almost certainly will be given the death sentence.
She accuses the government of double standards in the case of Mr Assange, who is currently avoiding extradition to Sweden over sexual assalt allegations by hiding out in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
"I ask the same rights for all people. If Ecuador wants to give protection, Alexander needs more than any person here. I think there is hypocrisy here."
The Ecuadorean government declined to comment on the case. But court officials have confirmed that an extradition request could be approved even though Mr Barankov has been given refugee status.
Ms Andrade said police have put her under surveillance and listen to her phone. She claims officials have failed to give her a straight answer on Mr Barankov’s likely fate. But she said she will continue to fight to save him from extradition.
"I never finish with my hope. This is only what I have now. I don’t have anything more. I can only hope all will be fine and justice will be done here," she said.
