A gay man has died after a homophobic attack caused him to have a brain hemorrhage.
Mikhail Pischevsky, 33, was attacked after he had left a gay party at a nightclub in Minsk, Belarus, in May 2014.
His attacker, Dmitry Lukashevich, first shouted homophobic slurs. When Mikhail ignored him, Dmitry started to attack.
Mikhail was left with serious head injuries, and after several surgeries, doctors were forced to remove about 20% of his brain in a bid to save him.
He went into a coma and succumbed to his injuries and died 27 October.
‘Mikhail is no longer with us,’ LGBTI activist Sergei Androsjenko said on Twitter. ‘He is no longer on life support.’
Dmitry was sentenced to a prison term of two years and eight months for ‘unintentionally inflicted grievous bodily harm’. In addition he was forced to pay €7,500 ($8,300) to Mikhail and €3,000 ($3,300) to his mother.
On 20 August, Dmitry was released on amnesty after serving only 11 months in prison.
A protest is going to take place in New York City to fight for Mikhail’s killer to be charged with 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.
‘Join us at a protest and a vigil near the Consulate General of Belarus in New York on Thursday, October 29th at 10am.
You can bring flowers, signs and photographs.