Belarusian activist found dead in Kiev

The report is supplemented by the last section.

On Monday, the organization of Belarusian activist V. Shyshov, who heads the non-governmental organization that helps his compatriots escape repression in Belarus, announced on the Telegram platform that he has disappeared in Kiev.

“The Belarusian citizen Vitaly Shyshov, who disappeared yesterday in Kiev, was found hanged today in one of Kiev’s parks, not far from where he lived,” Ukrainian police said in a statement quoted by Unian and Radio Liberty.

A Ukrainian police report adds that an investigation into the murder has been launched. All versions will be investigated, including a version of the murder disguised as a suicide, police said.

According to officials, among other things, witnesses will be questioned and surveillance camera records will be analyzed.

The police indicated that V. Shyšov’s mobile phone and personal belongings had been removed from the scene.

According to activist Oleg Ovchinikov, when V. Shyshov’s body was found in a forest on the outskirts of Kiev, he had abrasions on his face and a broken nose.

A reporter for the AFP news agency said he saw several police cars and dozens of officers at the scene. Some of them carried black bags.

Blame the regime

The Belarusian NGO itself has accused the regime of Belarusian authoritarian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenko of being responsible for the assassination of its leader, V. Shyshov.

“There is no doubt that this is a planned operation by the Chekists to liquidate Belarus, which represents a real threat to the regime,” the House of Belarus in Ukraine said in a statement, citing security officials.

V. Shyshov, the head of the organization “Belarusian House in Ukraine”, went to flee to Kiev on Monday morning and did not return, said the law enforcement center “Viasna”.

According to the center, friends of V. Shyshov said that the activist who had recently fled was followed by “strangers”. He had also received several suspicious calls.

In Ukraine, he was tracked down, and “both local sources and our people in Belarus” warned NGOs of the possibility of “various provocations, including kidnappings and liquidations,” underlined the “Belarusian House in Ukraine”.

“We will continue to fight for the truth about Vitaly’s death,” the organization added.

The “Belarusian House in Ukraine” provides assistance to Belarusians fleeing persecution in their home country regarding their legal status in Ukraine, housing and work.

Sviatlana Cichanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian opposition, also reacted to the tragic news from Kiev.

“Shocking news about the Belarusian activist V. Shyshov, who was found hanged in Kiev. My heart together with his family. It is very worrying that, even after leaving Belarus, no one can feel safe. I thank the Ukrainian officials for the investigation ongoing, “wrote the Belarusian opposition leader on the social network Twitter.

V. Shyshov was forced to leave Belarus for Ukraine last fall.

Many Belarusians fled the country, many to neighboring Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, when authoritarian President Aliaksandr Lukashenko’s regime began cracking down on any disobedience following a wave of mass protests sparked by the rigged presidential elections in August last year. .

Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994.

The UN calls for an “in-depth” investigation

The United Nations, for its part, has asked Ukrainian officials to carry out a “thorough, impartial and effective” investigation into what happened to Shyshov.

“This adds to our concern and anxiety about what is happening in Belarus,” Marta Hurtado, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva.

“The situation is clearly getting worse,” he said.

In recent weeks, the Belarusian regime has increased pressure on NGOs and independent media. In July alone, more than 200 raids were carried out at the offices and apartments of activists and journalists, and dozens of people were arrested.

Lukashenko has vowed to continue what he called a “clean-up operation” targeting civil society activists, whom he condemned as “bandits and foreign agents.”

Political assassinations and disappearances have already occurred in Belarus, and critics of the regime claim that Belarusian security services are leading strike squads against Lukashenko’s opponents.

In 2019, a man who claimed to have served in the Belarusian police elite said in an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that he had helped kill key opposition figures 20 years ago.

In that interview, Juras Harouskis spoke about his role in the murders of three of Lukashenko’s political opponents in 1999. One of those killed is a former interior minister.

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