Man dies after doctors removed part of his brain following homophobic attack
A gay man has died after a homophobic attack caused him to have a brain haemorrhage.
Architect Mikhail Pischevsky was attacked after leaving a party at a nightclub in Minsk, Belarus, in 2014.
Dmitry Lukashevich began shouting homophobic abuse at his victim, before carrying out a vicious attack on Mr Pischevsky.
Mr Pischevsky was left with severe head injuries following the assault, and after several operations, doctors were forced to remove about 20% of his brain in a bid to save him.
However, he failed to regain full consciousness following the attack and sadly passed away yesterday (October 27).
“Mikhail is no longer with us,” LGBT activist Sergei Androsjenko said on Twitter. “He is no longer on life support.”
Dmitry was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for “unintentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm”.
In addition he was forced to pay €7,500 ($8,300) to Mikhail and €3,000 ($3,300) to his mother.
However Dmitry was released on amnesty in August – after serving only 11 months in prison.
Activists have been protesting his release, demanding Dmitry now be charged with Mr Pischevsky’s murder.
“We demand justice for Mikhail Pischevsky. Why Mikhail’s killer has not been charged with murder? We demand the answer,” a group of activists from the Russian-Speaking American LGBT Association said.
The association is planning a protest in New York City tomorrow (October 29) at 10am.
Last year, concerns were raised by the Equal Rights Trust (ERT), that Belarus may enact a similar law to that passed in Russia last year banning the “promotion of non-traditional sexual relations.”
