October 10, Pozirk. Volha Zazulinskaja, the United Transitional Cabinet’s (UTC) social policy representative, linked the recent death of 52-year-old Alaksiej Tamiłaŭ to injuries caused by police beating at Viciebsk’s detention center in March 2023.
Viasna Viciebsk reported on October 9 that Tamiłaŭ died of cerebral thrombosis. According to the human rights group, after the March 2023 beating in custody he was admitted to intensive care with pneumothorax, broken ribs and a fractured knee. He had been arrested for sharing opposition content, a minor offense.
“The methods that the regime uses as an instrument of influence are inhumane. Intimidation, beatings, psychological torture and blackmail. All this bullying has consequences,” Zazulinskaja said.
“This is not just a tragedy of one family, this is a tragedy of all Belarusians, because for more than four years now the repressive apparatus has been spiraling up instead of stopping,” she said.
Zazulinskaja’s associate Stanisłaŭ Sałaviej noted that “a man should not die aged 52.”
“What Alaksiej went through in 2023 could not but affect his health. The injuries he sustained – a broken leg, a ruptured lung – increase the risk of thrombosis and, consequently, a stroke. His death was the result of the trauma and violence he experienced, not the result of natural processes. Unfortunately, Alaksiej joined the list of those who died as a result of the repression unleashed by the authorities.”
Zazulinskaja mentioned the deaths of other opposition supporters documented by human rights activists, as well as the violent deaths of protesters Alaksandar Tarajkoŭski, Mikita Kryŭcoŭ, Alaksandar Vichor, Kanstancin Šyšmakoŭ, Hienadź Šutaŭ, Raman Bandarenka and Andrej Zielcar.
Sałaviej said that the perpetrators had threatened Tamiłaŭ that they would open a criminal case against him if he reported the beating to law enforcement authorities.
