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Belarus dissident found hanged in Ukraine

03 August 2021, MVT 13:39
A car with diplomatic plates leaves the Polish embassy in Tokyo on August 3, 2021, where Belarus athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is believed to be sheltering after she claimed her team tried to force her to leave Japan following a row during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, a day after she was granted a humanitarian visa to Poland -- Photo: Yuki Iwamura/ AFP
03 August 2021, MVT 13:39

A missing Belarusian activist has been found hanged in a park in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, police said on Tuesday, adding they had opened a murder probe.

Vitaly Shishov, 26, headed the Belarusian House in Ukraine, an NGO helping his compatriots flee repression in Belarus.

Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko has been cracking down on any form of dissent since mass protests erupted after last year's elections, deemed unfair by the West.

Many Belarusians have fled, often to neighbouring Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania.

"Belarusian citizen Vitaly Shishov, who had gone missing in Kiev yesterday, was today found hanged in one of the Kiev parks, not far from where he lived," police said in a statement.

Police said they had opened a murder probe and would pursue all leads including a possible "murder disguised as a suicide".

The Belarusian House in Ukraine accused the Lukashenko regime of being behind the murder of Shishov.

"There is no doubt that this is an operation planned by Chekists to liquidate a Belarusian who presented a true danger to the regime," the NGO said in a statement, referring to security service agents.

The activist went jogging in Kiev on Monday morning but did not return and could not be reached on his mobile phone.

Shishov moved to pro-Western Ukraine in the autumn of 2020, after joining anti-government protests in Belarus, and helped establish the Belarusian House in Ukraine.

"Followed by strangers"

The NGO said that Shishov had been involved in everything from helping fellow compatriots to settle in Ukraine to staging anti-regime protests.

The group also said that it had repeatedly received warnings about possible "provocations, including kidnapping and liquidation."

Friends of Shishov said he had been followed by "strangers" while jogging recently, human rights organisation Viasna has said.

Belarusian authorities have used force to put down historic demonstrations against Lukashenko's rule and have been trying to snuff out remaining dissent, jailing university students and shutting down independent media.

Shishov's death came as Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said over the weekend she was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics and threatened with forced repatriation for criticising her athletics federation.

Belarus athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who claimed her team tried to force her to leave Japan following a row during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, walks with her luggage inside the Polish embassy in Tokyo on August 2, 2021 -- Photo: Yuki Iwamura/ AFP

The sprinter, who was granted a humanitarian visa by Poland on Monday, said she feared being jailed if she returned to her country.

Her husband Arseny Zdanevich told AFP on Monday he had fled from Belarus to Ukraine and was hoping to join his wife "in the near future".

Lukashenko sparked international outrage in May by dispatching a fighter jet to intercept a Ryanair plane flying from Greece to Lithuania in order to arrest a dissident onboard.

By: Ania Tsoukanova/ AFP

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