Yauhen Afnahel: Initiator Of All That Must Be Dismissed

Lukashenka no longer has any professional staff.

Having dismissed three main propagandists – Yakubovich, Davydzka and Kaziyatka, the authorities have showed once again that they cannot create anything worthwhile. Yauhen Afnahel, one of the leaders of the Belarusian National Congress, a coordinator of the European Belarus civil campaign, said that to Charter97.org:

– For more than twenty years, the authorities have been trying to confront independent journalists and publications, pumping huge amounts of money into odious propaganda projects. They have tried to fight against independent websites on the Internet – and nothing came out of it.

First and foremost, the propagandists’ failure is seen from the authorities’ reaction to the independent journalists’ work. If propaganda cannot win competitive struggle, the independent media simply become prohibited. Once, almost all the independent newspapers were banned in Belarus, now they are trying to shut the mouth of Internet publications. They are trying – unsuccessfully, as always – to block the Charter'97 site, the website of the Belarusian National Congress, they have hacked the site of the REP trade union.

Despite all this, people are still able to find truthful information in the network. Therefore, most likely, at some point, Lukashenka's patience burst and he decided to fire the propagandists who, over the course of two decades, had been receiving huge sums of money, but had failed to cope with their tasks. However, he did think about the absence of any other skilled workers. Only informers, "cops" and turnkeys are there. Yakubovich, who graduated from the Saratov School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and served in the internal troops in Minsk for 12 years, is dismissed, and Eismant, who worked in the police for 8 years, appears to replace him.

Lukashenka hasn’t got "new blood" anymore. Professional journalists, economists, managers, technologists have never been there. Therefore, yesterday's reshuffles will not change anything. I think that they are not the last ones. The leapfrog of the propagandists' resignations will continue, until the main culprit of this mess, Aliaksandr Lukashenka, is dismissed after the next conditional Yakubovich-Davydzka-Kaziyatka.

And then these media, which are now being managed by losers, will be led by normal professionals. And then at last, perhaps, the Belarusians will start reading and watching them.