A Belarusian dissident who was in exile found dead in a park in Ukrainian capital Kiev on Tuesday. The police started an investigation in suspected murder.
26-year-old Vitaly Shishov, head of Belarusian House in Ukraine (BDU) organization was reported missing since Monday. He was later found hanging in a forest area in Kiev park next day. The scratches on his body are believed to be from a fall. The police told the reporters that they were looking into the issue as a suicide as well as a murder disguised as suicide.
Shishov moved to Ukraine in 2020 autumn, where he lived in Kiev and participated in protests against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and his regime. Alexander Lukashenko is in power in the country since 1994, but he faced lots of protests amid last year’s election. Since then, it is alleged that the President and his regime is carrying on many non-democratic activities in the country.
The Belarusian House in Ukraine accused Alexander Lukashenko and his service agents for Shishov’s death. Shishov had received many threats before, the NGO confirmed. He was one of the establishers of the NGO in Ukraine.
In another incident on Monday, the Belarus sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya had revealed that she was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics after criticizing her athletics federation. She added that she was feared being jailed if returned to Belarus. After the serious revelation Poland granted her a humanitarian visa on Tuesday.
On 23rd May, a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was forced to land in Belarus capital and arrested a journalist who was a strong criticizer of President Lukashenko.
The United Nations demanded a thorough, impartial and effective investigation in to the matter and expressed concern over what is happening in Belarus.