MINSK – Scores of people paid respects to the first leader of independent Belarus, Stanislau Shushkevich, as his body lay in state at a Minsk church three days after his death.
Ahead of a formal mass scheduled for May 7, a line of Belarusians visited his coffin at the Blessed Name of Mary Cathedral, laying flowers and offering condolences to his widow, Iryna.
No government officials are believed to have attended the ceremonies, and the government of strongman leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka has issued no statement regarding his death.
Shushkevich died on May 4 of complications from COVID-19. He was 87.
The first head of state of independent Belarus, Shushkevich was one of the three leaders who signed the December 1991 agreement declaring that the U.S.S.R. had ceased to exist.
He was also a staunch opponent of Lukashenka who has ruled Belarus since 1994, frequently calling him "illegitimate."
In August 2020, Lukashenka claimed reelection in a presidential vote that was condemned as rigged by opposition groups, who rallied thousands of Belarusians to the streets for months.
But Lukashenka’s security forces cracked down brutally on the protests, jailing scores of demonstrators and driving much of the opposition underground or into exile, out of the country.
“For the sake of keeping his hold on power, our current illegitimate -- I repeat, illegitimate -- president will sell off everything, including Belarus,” Shushkevich said in a 2016 interview with RFE/RL.
