The director of an NGO helping people who fled Belarus, missing since the day before in Ukraine, was found hanged in Kiev, police said Tuesday (August 3rd), which opened an investigation for "
murder
".
Read also: Belarus: chilling testimonies of an ordinary dictatorship
"
Belarusian citizen Vitali Chychov, who disappeared in Kiev yesterday, was found hanged today in one of Kiev's parks, near where he lived,
" she said in a statement.
According to one of the versions studied, it could be a "
murder camouflaged as suicide
", added the police.
At the head of the organization "
Belarusian House
" in Ukraine, Vitali Chychov went out for a jog in Kiev on Monday morning but did not return.
Belarusian human rights organization Viasna told Telegram that, according to friends of Vitali Chychov, he had already been followed by "
strangers
" while jogging.
An authoritarian regime
Many Belarusians have fled their countries, often to Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, amid a fierce crackdown on any dissent in this ex-Soviet republic nestled between Russia and the EU and ruled with an iron fist since 1994 by President Alexander Lukashenko.
To read also: Belarus: "The Lukashenko regime represents a danger for the whole world"
Vitali Chychov's case comes shortly after an incident at the Tokyo Olympics with Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who said she was forced to withdraw from competition and threatened with forced repatriation for criticizing her federation on the media. social.
The 24-year-old athlete took refuge at the Polish embassy, from which she obtained a humanitarian visa on Monday.
The historic post-election protest movement that rocked Belarus in 2020 was put down with massive arrests, forced exiles of opponents, as well as the liquidation of many NGOs and independent media.
