ANATOL KOTAU, MEMBER OF AFF WORKING GROUP, HAS GONE MISSING IN TURKEY

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Urgent: AFF Working Group Member Anatol Kotau Reported Missing in Turkey

Ath­letes for Free­dom (AFF) is deeply con­cerned about the dis­ap­pear­ance of Ana­tol Kotau, a respect­ed sports offi­cial, long-time advo­cate for ath­letes’ rights, and active mem­ber of the AFF work­ing group. We call on the inter­na­tion­al sports com­mu­ni­ty, human rights orga­ni­za­tions, and diplo­mat­ic actors to take imme­di­ate action.

Ana­tol Kotau cur­rent­ly serves as Coor­di­na­tor for Inter­na­tion­al Rela­tions at the Belaru­sian Sport Sol­i­dar­i­ty Foun­da­tion (BSSF). He is the for­mer Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al of the Nation­al Olympic Com­mit­tee of Belarus and was Deputy Direc­tor of the 2019 Euro­pean Games in Min­sk. Kotau is also a mem­ber of the Ethics Com­mis­sion of the World Dance Sport Fed­er­a­tion.

For years, Kotau has been at the fore­front of defend­ing Belaru­sian ath­letes who faced repres­sion under the Lukashenko regime. His efforts came at great per­son­al cost: he was sen­tenced in absen­tia to 12 years in prison in Belarus for his polit­i­cal and human rights work.

On August 21, 2025, Kotau trav­eled to Istan­bul, Turkey, on pro­fes­sion­al mat­ters. Short­ly after his arrival, con­tact with him was lost, and his where­abouts remain unknown. His name appears on want­ed lists in both Belarus and Rus­sia, rais­ing seri­ous con­cerns about his safe­ty and the pos­si­bil­i­ty of polit­i­cal­ly moti­vat­ed per­se­cu­tion.

Athletes for Freedom urges:

  • Sports fed­er­a­tions and insti­tu­tions world­wide to stand in sol­i­dar­i­ty with Ana­tol Kotau.

  • Human rights orga­ni­za­tions and diplo­mat­ic rep­re­sen­ta­tives to engage Turk­ish author­i­ties and ensure an urgent inves­ti­ga­tion into his dis­ap­pear­ance.

Kotau’s decades of ser­vice in sports, his inter­na­tion­al rep­u­ta­tion, and his res­olute ded­i­ca­tion to ath­letes’ rights make his dis­ap­pear­ance an issue of grave con­cern for the glob­al sports and human rights com­mu­ni­ty.

We appeal to the media, sports orga­ni­za­tions, and all sup­port­ers to share this infor­ma­tion wide­ly.

Our contacts for this matter:

Email – athletesforfreedom@gmail.com
What­sApp – +48 57 1064991

#Ath­letes­For­Free­dom #WhereIsKo­tau #Free­Be­larus