Pavel Yakubovich (, born September 23, 1946, in

Unecha Unecha (), a town and the administrative center of Unechsky District in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, stands on the Unecha River (within the Dnieper's drainage basin, basin) southwest of Bryansk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ...

Starodub Starodub (, , ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets (river), Babinets River in the Dnieper basin, southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

) is a Belarusian journalist and politician. As the chief editor of ''

Belarus Today ''Belarus Today'' (; ) is a state run publisher in Belarus; it controls numerous media entities such as their current namesake publication ''Belarus Today''. It was named ''Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya'' previously. Dzmitry Zh ...

'', the main official newspaper of Belarus, he has been accused of propaganda in favour of the authoritarian regime of president

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

Biography

After graduating from school he worked as a prison ward and construction worker, and later did his military service in the Soviet Internal Troops. He soon began his work as a military journalist and joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

. In 1973, Yakubovich graduated from the

Belarusian State University The Belarusian State University (BSU) (, ; ) is a university in Minsk, Belarus. It was founded on October 30, 1921. The university was ranked 387th in the world in the 2023 QS World University Rankings. History 1919–1949 On February 25, 1919, ...

. He worked as journalist and editor in several Belarusian newspapers:

Znamya Yunosti ''Znamya'' ( rus, Знамя, p=ˈznamʲə, a=Ru-знамя.ogg, lit. "The Banner") is a Russian monthly literary magazine, which was established in Moscow in 1931. In 1931–1932, the magazine was published under the name of ''Lokaf'' ("Лок ...

(1977–1987), Krynitsa (1987–1995). In 1995 he was appointed deputy chief editor and then chief editor of

Sovetskaya Belorussiya ''Belarus Today'' (; ) is a state run publisher in Belarus; it controls numerous media entities such as their current namesake publication ''Belarus Today''. It was named ''Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya'' previously. Dzmitry Zh ...

, the official publication of the

Presidential Administration of Belarus The Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus (, ) is a state administration body of Belarus that supervises the implementation of the resolutions of the President. Functions The Presidential Administration has been created fo ...

. He has been chief editor of the newspaper, later renamed

Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya ''Belarus Today'' (; ) is a state run publisher in Belarus; it controls numerous media entities such as their current namesake publication ''Belarus Today''. It was named ''Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya'' previously. Dzmitry Zh ...

, since then. In 2011, president Lukashenko appointed Pavel Yakubovich member of the upper chamber of the Parliament of Belarus. Yakubovich has received several state awards, including

Order of Francysk Skaryna The Order of Francysk Skaryna () is an award of Belarus. It is named after Francysk Skaryna, one of the first book printers in Cyrillic script. Order of Francysk Skaryna is a single level award that was instituted on 13 April 1995; it is awarded ...

Controversy

EU sanctions

In 2011, after the wave of repressions that followed the 2010 presidential election, Pavel Yakubovich and several other top managers and employees of major state media became subject to an EU travel ban and asset freeze as part of a sanctions list of 208 individuals responsible for political repressions, electoral fraud and

propaganda in Belarus Propaganda in Belarus is the practice of state directed communication in order to promote patriotism and acceptance of Lukashenko's rule. Propaganda is distributed through state media, such as Belarus-1, which are owned by Belteleradiocompany, b ...

. The sanctions were lifted in 2016.

Accusations

According to the EU Council's decision,Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP of 15 October 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Belarus
/ref> Pavel Yakubovich was "one of the most vocal and influential members of the state propaganda machine in the printed press. He has supported and justified the repression of the democratic opposition and of civil society, which are systematically highlighted in a negative and derogatory way using falsified information. He was particularly active in this regard after the crackdown on peaceful demonstrations on 19 December 2010 and on subsequent protests."

Family

Pavel Yakubovich is a distant relative of

Leonid Yakubovich Leonid Arkadyevich Yakubovich PARList of people and organizations sanctioned in relation to human rights violations in Belarus Since the 1990s, Belarus has been actively criticized by the United States, the European Union, the OSCE and the United Nations for Human rights in Belarus, human rights violations and electoral fraud. Various Belarusian officials, businesspeople ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakubovich Belarusian propagandists Belarusian State University alumni Belarusian media executives Members of the Council of the Republic of Belarus Recipients of the Order of Francysk Skaryna Communist Party of the Soviet Union members