Femen co-founder Shachko found dead in Paris

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Oksana Shachko, an activist and the co-founder of women's rights group Femen, stands near the door of her room in Kiev, Ukraine, February 21, 2012. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/Files
 

KIEV: A founding member of the Ukrainian feminist protest group Femen, Oksana Shachko, has been found dead in her apartment in Paris, Femen said on Tuesday.

“RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us. We mourn together with her relatives and friends and expect for the official version from the police.

"At the moment it is known, that yesterday, July 23, Oksana’s body was found in her apartment in Paris,” it said on its official blog.

Activists from Femen, known for its unique protests, said the 31-year-old Ukrainian had been found on Monday with a suicide note next to her body.

Anna Gutsol, another Femen founder, wrote on Facebook: "RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us.

"We mourn together with her relatives and friends," she said, adding that the group was awaiting "the official version from the police".

Inna Shevchenko, also one of Femen's leaders, who also lives in the French capital, said the news comes with "great regret and deep pain".

Shachko was one of four feminist activists who founded Femen in Ukraine in 2008. Exiled in France since 2013, she had since left the group and was working as an artist.

Since it was founded in Kiev in 2008, the Femen movement has won notoriety in Europe for its stands against sex tourism, homophobia, and religious institutions.

Operating under the slogan "I came, I stripped, I won," Femen quickly drew attention around the world with its protests against sexism. Their demonstrations eventually started targeting authoritarianism and racism, with Russia's Vladimir Putin a particular target, alongside France's far-right National Front party.

But in recent years, the group has struggled with internal divisions as well as legal proceedings against its members.

In 2011, Femen said Shachko was among three members "kidnapped" by security agents and forced to strip in a forest after staging a protest mocking Belarussian strongman Alexander Lukashenko.

The agents had poured oil over the three women, threatened to set them on fire, and cut off their hair, Femen said.

She was abducted again by unknown assailants during a visit by Putin to Ukraine, according to the group. Femen's lawyer said Shachko was beaten so badly that she was briefly hospitalised.