A few hours after the story of the athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya , forced to leave the competition at the Tokyo Olympics for criticizing the Belarusian regime (here the article by Formiche.net), another case ignites the alarm against Aleksandr Lukashenko . Young activist Vitaly Shishov was found dead in a park in Kiev.
The news was confirmed by the Ukrainian police, following the disappearance of Shishov reported yesterday by his partner: “The Belarusian citizen Vitaly Shishov, who disappeared yesterday in Kiev, was found today in one of the city parks, not far from his home” . Authorities have opened a murder investigation and said they are evaluating “all possibilities”, including the hypothesis of a simulated suicide.
Currently, the Ukrainian police check all images recorded by security cameras in the area and have asked Shishov’s friends and acquaintances to provide data and information on his mental health.
According to The Guardian newspaper, the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna claims that the young activist has been followed by unknown persons in the last few days while he was jogging. Some experts indicate that Belarusian KGB agents are operating in full freedom in Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania and the attack on Shishov could be their doing.
These three countries have become the main recipients of Belarusians fleeing the repression of the regime leader in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. Indeed, the husband of the athlete Tsimanouskaya is in Kiev.
Shishov led the Kiev-based non-profit organization Belarusian House, which helps Belarusian citizens escape persecution.
For the NGO, there is no doubt that the death of the Belarusian activist is “the result of an operation planned by the Chekists (agents, ed) of the security forces to liquidate a Belarusian who is dangerous to the regime. We will continue to fight for the truth about Vitaly’s death […] We have been warned repeatedly both by local sources and by our people in Belarus that the regime uses all sorts of provocations, including kidnapping and murder. Vitaly treated these warnings stoically and with a sense of humor ”.
From Austria to the United Kingdom, the international community is mobilizing to ask for an immediate clarification on the death of the activist.
The United Nations Organization has called for a rigorous investigation into the dissident’s death: “We hope that the authorities will conduct a rigorous, impartial and effective investigation into what happened and determine whether it was a suicide, a murder or if there is a link with its activity, ”said the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Marta Hurtado .
Same request from Europe. “We know that the Ukrainian authorities are investigating this case – said the spokesman of the European Union Commission, Nabila Massrali – and we expect them to help understand the reasons for this very, very unfortunate death”. For David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament, the death of Vitaly Shishov “is horrible. As head of the Belarusian House in Ukraine, he helped those fleeing persecution. The fact that Belarusian activists are being targeted in third countries is a serious escalation, ”reads Twitter.
