Suicides and suicide attempts: an extreme form of protest against violence and lawlessness
Many Belarusians who fall under political persecution experience mental disorders and depression. The fear of death and thoughts of suicide haunt them. When psychological violence becomes unbearable, and there are no other ways to resist lawlessness, people are sometimes forced to use the last resort and take their own lives. Viasna cites the most high-profile cases of suicides and suicide attempts among Belarusians who have been persecuted or convicted for political reasons.
Dzmitry Stakhouski: "This is the most terrifying choice."
- Dzmitry Stakhouski. A photo from social media
On the evening of May 25, 2021, 18-year-old Dzmitry Stakhouski, a defendant in a criminal case regarding participating in "mass riots" on August 9–11, 2020, and building barricades near the Riga shopping center in Minsk, committed suicide by jumping from a 16-story building. The man had left a suicide post on VKontakte where he explained his act by criminal prosecution due to participation in protests: "The Investigative Committee is to blame for that."
"If they hadn't continued to put psychological pressure on me, I don't think I would have decided on such a terrible act as suicide. But my strength was running out," the young man wrote in his post.
"Couldn't endure the searches, arrests, and imprisonment"
More recently, on December tenth, Sviatlana Krutsikava, a senior citizen from Pinsk district, committed suicide. According to the woman's friends, she could not endure the searches, arrests, imprisonment, inspections, and regular psychological pressure from the police.
"It is impossible even to comprehend what a person who decided to take such a terrible step, desperate and irreversible, was forced to go through... The regime destroys people not only in prisons. It destroys health, both physically and mentally, through harassment, threats of persecution, and endless manipulation. At some point, even the hearts of hardened Belarusians can't bear it.
Such news causes horror and pain. Repression and wars can greatly disturb them and drive the brightest people to despair," Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya reacted in her Telegram.
- Sviatlana Krutsikava. A photo from social media
Passed away at the age of nineteen
In February 2022, former political prisoner Kiryl Shchahlou was sentenced to one and a half years of home confinement for "insulting Lukashenka." Kiryl Shchahlou was found guilty under Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code ("publicly insulting Lukashenka"). Later, the man was punished with another arrest for three months. In November 2022, Shchahlou was added to the so-called "extremist list." Upon his release, he committed suicide, the human rights initiative Dissidentby reported.
According to human rights activists, this happened back in February 2023.
"Spent only one week in an open-type correctional institution."
On January 5, 2022, 43-year-old political prisoner Dzmitry Dudoits jumped from a bridge and crashed when returning from a clinic unaccompanied. Recall that the man was sentenced to two years in an open-type correctional institution for a comment about the head of the Hancavičy district police department Vital Kuliashou. Starting December 29, 2021, Dzmitry served his sentence at correctional institution no. 43 in Mahilioŭ. He spent there only one week.
- Dzmitry Dudoits
Dzmitry Dudoits is a resident of Smarhoń. On October 29, 2021, he was sentenced to two years in an open-type correctional institution for commenting on Volha Karach's post. He was accused of insulting a government official in connection with the performance of his official duties (Article 369 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus).
Suicide attempts as a way to resist lawlessness
In March 2023, political prisoner Ihar Losik attempted suicide in the Navapolack penal colony. He was on hunger strike for a long time in a punitive isolation cell (SHIZO), and then he cut his wrists and neck. Ihar was rescued and sent to a medical unit.
Former political prisoner Aliaksandr Kabanau wrote about this case that prisoners usually use such extreme methods to somehow stop pressure and harassment from the administration:
"This is an extremely rare case when a person really wants to die in this way. This is usually an attempt to resist lawlessness and drive it away from oneself."
"Protested against the blocking of correspondence and placement in SHIZO"
Stsiapan Latypau, a political prisoner from Minsk, has attempted suicide several times. In early June 2021, directly in the courtroom, he stood on a bench in the cage so that the guards could not reach him, and inserted an object similar to a pen into his throat. Stsiapan turned blue and lay down on a bench, and an ambulance was called. Paramedics carried unconscious Stsiapan out of the courtroom and took him to the hospital. Latypau later received surgery, and after artificial ventilation, the trial continued.
In July 2022, Latypau swallowed a blade and cut his wrist to protest against the actions of the administration of correctional colony No. 22, his Instagram page reported. The political prisoner protested against the blocking of correspondence and the placement of political prisoners in SHIZO.
