Ukraine: A Belarusian activist in exile in Ukraine was found hanged in a park near his house in Kyiv early Tuesday, prompting Ukrainian authorities to open a murder investigation.
Vitaly Shishov, the director of a Kyiv-based organization that assists Belarusians to escape persecution, was reported missing by his girlfriend on Monday after failing to come home after a jog.
Police said they had opened a criminal file for suspected murder and were looking into whether the perpetrators tried to pass the incident off as a case of suicide.
Shishov has felt under continual observation since leaving Belarus last year after participating in anti-government rallies, according to his coworkers. He’d been warned about the possibility of being abducted or killed.
‘Belarusian citizen Vitaly Shishov, who disappeared yesterday in Kyiv, was found hanged today in one of Kyiv’s parks, not far from his place of residence,’ the police statement said.
During President Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown following a disputed election last year, Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania became safe havens for Belarusians.
According to its website, Shishov managed the Belarusian House in Ukraine (BDU) initiative, which assists Belarusians in finding housing, jobs and legal guidance.
‘We were also repeatedly warned by both local sources and our people in the Republic of Belarus about all kinds of provocations, including kidnapping and liquidation. Vitaly treated these warnings stoically and with humour,’ BDU said in a statement.
On Monday, the organization stated that it was unable to contact Shishov. Shishov had left his home at 9 am (0600 GMT) and was expected to return an hour later, according to the report.
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Belarusian authorities have labelled anti-government demonstrators as criminals or violent revolutionaries sponsored by the West while defending their own law enforcement agencies’ actions as necessary and acceptable.
On August 8, the BDU planned to hold a march in Kyiv to commemorate a year since major protests against Lukashenko began.
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