Regime opens criminal case against girlfriend of activist Vital Shyshou. He was found dead in Kyiv
A criminal case has been launched against Belarusian citizen Bazhena Zholudz, the girlfriend of the deceased head of the Belarusian House in Ukraine.
According to the Belarusian Investigative Committee, Ms Zholudz is charged under Article 361-3 of the Criminal Code.
“In August 2021, the suspect, while being in the vicinity of the Belarusian Embassy in Ukraine, called for mass riots coupled with violence and armed resistance to the authorities,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes the investigators.
On August 2, Vital Shyshou, a Belarusian activist who had left Belarus for Ukraine in fear of being persecuted, went for a run and disappeared. A day later, he was found dead on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital city. The Belarusian national was hanged on a tree in the forest in the vicinity of the village of Chayki near Kyiv.
The local police initiated a criminal case over alleged premeditated homicide; it should be noted, however, that the murder disguised as suicide is just one of the versions. Ukrainian MPs from the inter-factional association ‘For Democratic Belarus’ urged Interior Minister to take the investigation of Shyshou’s death under personal control; they believe that Belarusian special services may be involved in the tragic event.
It should be recalled that on the same day the Belarusian diaspora and their Ukrainian friends staged a memorial event in front of the building of Belarus’ embassy in Kyiv; Bazhena Zholudz was among the participants. Notably, the Belarusian authorities have never reported the launch of a criminal case over the death of Vital Shyshou.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky tasked the country’s Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs with studying all possible risks and ensuring unconditional protection to those Ukraine-based Belarusian citizens who might find themselves in the Lukashenka regime’s crosshairs due to their political or civic activities.
belsat.eu
