Allies of a Belarusian opposition figure who went missing last year are calling on the U.S., Poland, the EU, and the U.N. to open investigations into his case, following a newly published report pointing to Russian involvement in his disappearance.
Anatol Kotau, 46, was last seen in August after traveling from his home in Poland to Turkey. Shortly after arriving, he went silent — no longer responding to messages from his wife.
A joint investigative report released this week by Deutsche Welle, the Belarusian Investigative Center, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found that Kotau boarded a yacht departing from the Turkish city of Trabzon. Also on board were two Russian men, a woman from Azerbaijan, and four crew members.
According to the report, the yacht was stopped in the Black Sea by the Russian coast guard, and Kotau was taken off the vessel. What led him to travel to Turkey — and why he would have gotten on a boat heading toward Russia, given his status as a Belarusian dissident — remains unknown.
Kotau has already been convicted in absentia in Belarus, a close Russian ally, and sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of extremist activity and conspiracy to seize power — charges he denied.
Reuters has reached out to the Russian embassy in London for a response to the allegations of Moscow’s involvement.
Dmitry Bolkunets, an exiled activist who heads a group known as the Belarus Democratic Forum, sent a letter to U.S. National Security Adviser Andy Baker requesting help in locating Kotau. Reuters obtained a copy of the letter.
“The facts presented indicate that this was not a random event, but the result of a meticulously planned special operation,” Bolkunets wrote, characterizing it as a kidnapping carried out by Russia’s FSB security service.
Bolkunets also reached out to John Coale, an envoy for President Donald Trump who has been involved in negotiations with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko over the release of political prisoners. Coale replied that he would bring up the matter with authorities in Minsk.
Additional appeals were directed to Poland’s prime minister and president, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and the U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
Kotau’s wife, Anastasia, told Reuters she is hopeful the appeals will lead to a serious investigation by both the U.S. and Poland, where her husband had been living under refugee status.
