A Belarusian sprinter has been granted visa by Poland after she feared for her safety – right amid the Olympics in Tokyo. A young activist from her country who helped fellow Belarusians seek refuge in Ukraine has been found dead. Is anybody safe in President Alexander Lukashenko’s autocratic regime? (By the way, this is the man who had outdone Hollywood by arresting an activist after mid-air plane hijack in May.)

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who had a public feud with her team officials in Tokyo, says they “made it clear” she’d face punishment if she returned to Belarus. They tried to hustle her to the airport and put her on a plane to Belarus, she says. Several countries offered help, and Poland granted her humanitarian visa. She took a plane to Vienna Wednesday morning. [https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-track-and-field-sports-europe-belarus-a59d6b7fd91998428a23479af71c1868]

The fate of Vitaly Shishov proves she was right in being afraid. The 26-year-old activist was found dead in Ukraine, where he was running the Belarusian House that helped people fleeing Belarus. He was found hanged, and police in Kyiv have launched an investigation into whether it was suicide or “murder disguised as suicide.” [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/shishov-belarus-ukraine-lukashenko/2021/08/03/4f9985fc-f426-11eb-a636-18cac59a98dc_story.html]

Watch:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/exiled-belarus-activist-found-hanged-in-kyiv-park/2021/08/03/e9cd30b6-4943-41af-a2a7-670c07d2636c_video.html

“The death of Vitaly Shishov is horrific. As head of Belarusian House in Ukraine, he helped those fleeing persecution. The fact Belarusian activists are being targeted in third countries is a serious escalation,” noted European Parliament President David Sassoli on Twitter. [https://twitter.com/EP_President/status/1422509384849055746]

In May, Belarussian authorities had deployed a MiG-29 fighter jet to intercept a civilian airliner of Ryanair and forced it to land in the Belarussian capital of Minsk in order to arrest Roman Protasevich, a journalist-activist. The incident had prompted the European Union to cut air links between Western Europe and Belarus. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57236489]

No wonder Lukashenko has been called ‘Europe’s last dictator.’ [https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/europes-last-dictator-the-rise-and-possible-fall-of-alexander-lukashenko/] Europe and the US have been a longtime critic of Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime, which finds sympathy and assistance from Russia. After the plane hijack, the West was expected to take strong action, but Lukashenko has again found strong support from Putin.

Also see:

Opinion: Civil society in Belarus:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/belaruss-channels-of-civil-society-are-being-destroyed-another-just-went-dark/2021/05/18/920531d0-b807-11eb-a6b1-81296da0339b_story.html

Biden on Belarus

https://medium.com/@JoeBiden/my-statement-on-elections-in-belarus-ef441389fac6

Think tanks policy briefs:

How Biden should approach Belarus:

https://www.heritage.org/europe/report/how-the-biden-administration-should-approach-belarus