Yauhen Afnagel: 2020 Was The Peak Of Our Struggle, I Saw A Free Belarus

• 28.09.2025, 15:53

The processes that began five years ago are irreversible.

Yauhen Afnagel is the coordinator of the civil campaign "European Belarus" and one of the founders of the youth movement "Zubr". He lived in exile after the events of 2010, but returned to Belarus in 2016. In September 2020 he was detained, in May 2021 he was sentenced to 7 years on charges of "preparation of mass riots".

He spent almost five years in the colony and in Mahiliou prison No. 4, passing through the SHIZO and PKT. On September 11, 2025, he was forcibly taken to the Lithuanian border together with other political prisoners.

"Belsat" talked to the coordinator of "European Belarus" about the years in prison, sudden "release" and faith in change.

- Yauhen, you had the opportunity to stay in exile. Why did you still return to Belarus?"

- In 2016, I returned for many reasons. Belarus is my homeland: my parents, friends, relatives were here then. But most importantly, I felt that Belarus was approaching a moment of great change. It was unbearable for me to live in emigration and watch what was happening in the country from the outside. Abroad you have security, relative comfort, but at the same time there is a constant feeling that you are on the sidelines. You read the news, you worry, but to really change the situation in the country, you have to live in it.

Then everything was different in Belarus: life was boiling, energy and forces for change were felt. Even then it was obvious that the protests in the coming years would be much more massive than they had been before. There were actions against the "tax on unemployment", there were speeches during the parliamentary campaign. The authorities tried to defend themselves, but everyone saw their weakness, the society was becoming more and more determined. It was clear: the time would come when hundreds of thousands of people would take to the streets.

We in our team understood: if we wanted to change, we had to be in Belarus. We should prepare people, talk to them, explain, support them, work together on the strategy of victory. This is what pushed me to return.

In 2016, I returned home. I knew it was a risk, that prison was more than likely. But I decided: it's better to face these events domestically than to regret missing them by staying abroad.

But I decided: it's better to face these events domestically than to regret missing them by staying abroad.

Even after going through years of incarceration, I don't regret this step. I know I did the right thing.

- In September 2020, you were detained. How did it happen?

- On September 25, they began to break in my door, having previously blocked all communication. It became clear that they were going to take me, my colleagues and I were ready for it, it's good that we managed to delay this moment as much as possible.

While they were breaking down the door, it took three or four minutes, I calmly finished my cup of coffee, looking through the contents of my phone and computer once again. Then armed law enforcers burst into the apartment, put a gun to my head, threw me on the floor, and started the search. We were detained simultaneously in different places in Minsk: me, Andrei Voynich, Pavel Yukhnevich.

They took us head to the floor, I did not see where exactly. Then I realized that it was probably the Investigative Committee. They immediately showed me an article in the Criminal Code. It was clear: another life was beginning.

-The trial was closed. How did you survive that trial?

- The trial started in May 2021 in Mogilev. Everything happened behind closed doors: relatives and journalists were not allowed in, referring to the wording "the case contains materials that are state secrets". In fact, there was no secret information during the trial, the authorities just didn't want the Belarusians and the world to see this farce.

The people I knew and respected well were in the dock with me: Iryna Schastnaya, Pavel Seviarynets, Maksim Viniarski, Dmitry Kozlov, Pavel Yukhnievich, Andrei Voynich.

We understood that the sentence was already written in advance, so we just used the chance to spend time together, to talk.

On May 25, Judge Irina Lancheva announced the decision: me, Severinets and Voynich - 7 years each, the others from 4 to 5. These figures didn't mean much to us, we understood that in reality they could become bigger or smaller, everything depends on how events will develop in Belarus, on the pressure on Lukashenko's regime, on solidarity.

The fact that I and almost all my friends, who were in the court cage then, are now free, shows that we were right.

-What was the most difficult thing for you in prison?

-First months I spent in the colony in Novopolotsk. Four months - and in January 2022 I was transferred to a punitive isolation cell, then to a punishment cell, it became clear that I would be sent to a "krytka" - that is, to Mogilev Prison No. 4.

This prison is completely different conditions. In the colony you can at least walk around the territory, see the sky, trees, communicate with other political prisoners, with relatives. There is an opportunity to receive food parcels, make more frequent phone calls.

In "krytka" there is no such thing. A small cell, moisture, dim light, lack of fresh air, constant checks. Maximum - a parcel of two kilograms once a year. Purchases - one base value per month. No parcels allowed. You are isolated from everything.

There you communicate only with cellmates. Often they were people with broken psyche: someone spent 15-20 years in prison, someone is in jail for a brutal murder. Living next to such people is a separate ordeal. The administration used it purposefully as a tool of pressure.

In fact, I spent most of my sentence - three years - in the "krytka".

- How did you hold on in such conditions?

- The pressure was constant. The administration finds weaknesses in everyone: someone's health, someone's family, someone's increased sentence, physical violence. They use everything. I was deprived of visits, transfers, books, textbooks, records were taken away, and I was thrown into the SHIZO.

The only thing that saved me was the support - I always felt it, despite the efforts of the administration, which tried its best to convince political prisoners that everyone had forgotten about them and no one needed them. I always knew that it was not so.

Big thanks to everyone who helped. Friends, like-minded people, human rights activists, countries of the free world. To those who supported the families of the prisoners, who wrote letters - they hadn't reached me since the spring of 2022, but I knew they had, that there were many. It was very important and necessary. It is necessary to continue writing letters to political prisoners and further.

Separately I want to thank the independent media. Your texts are read both by those who guard us and by those who put pressure on political prisoners, who decide whether to deprive them of visits or to put them in punishment cells. When a prisoner is written about, it is harder to kill or maim him.

- What did you think about in detention?

- Of course, first of all, about your loved ones. I knew that it was very hard for them, much harder than for me. My father, my wife's parents didn't wait for this day, and I still can't get over the idea that they're gone.

- I often thought back to 2020. We knew back in 2019: hundreds of thousands of people would take to the streets after the rigged elections. We lived and worked for this. Many people at the time thought it was impossible. We knew that it would happen, and we talked about it. The words from an interview in early 2020 that a million Belarusians would be on the streets were even included in the criminal case. The most important thing is that we saw it all with our own eyes.

These memories, understanding that Belarusians have become different, have become a people who have learned to fight, to defend themselves, have become a source of strength that allowed us to go through all the trials.

- You were in captivity when the war in Ukraine started. How did you find out about it?"

- It was February 2022. I was already in the punitive isolation center at that time and was preparing for a stage to the "covered" prison. It had been clear that things were heading for war since the fall, in January, when the Russian authorities kept saying, "No, there will be no war, it's just an exercise." But it was clear to everyone that everything was heading for war.

In 2015, at meetings with Ukrainian politicians, the Belarusian opposition directly warned: there would be war, and Belarus would be involved in it. The Ukrainians were told then that they should not hope for agreements with Lukashenko, as the invasion from the territory of Belarus will happen anyway.

We were told: "We maintain relations with Lukashenko to avoid war, so that there would be no invasion from Belarus". And we said, "There will be an invasion anyway. He is not a man you can trust." Unfortunately, we were right again.

- Tell us about the day you were liberated.

- "Liberation" in quotes. On September 11, 2025, I was picked up from the exercise yard at 10:15 am. Told to pack my things, took my notes, very hurried. Then they took me to Minsk, to the KGB detention center known as "American".

There were 13 of us in one cell. Later we realized on what grounds we were united into a separate group: it was us who were planned to be thrown out of the country without passports. We spent the night there, and the next day we were taken to the Lithuanian border.

We were not given any documents that we were free. Legally, we remain convicted. That is why I say: this is not liberation, but forced expulsion. They want to deprive us of our homeland. For many, this is a heavier punishment than prison.

- How do you feel about this trade: political prisoners in exchange for concessions to the regime?

- This is a cynical game. They release a few dozen people, and put even more in jail. We remain objects of trade. Lukashenko uses political prisoners as hostages to bargain for relief in the most painful issues for him.

- It is wrong to talk about "freedom" in such cases. Freedom is when repression stops. If there are no new political prisoners. If you are not thrown out of your country. Lukashenko should be demanded to stop political repressions completely. Only then we can say that this problem has been solved.

- Nikolai Statkevich refused to go abroad. How do you assess his act?

- It is a courageous act. He broke the game of Alexander Lukashenko and those who wanted to use trade to lift sanctions, made himself a force to be reckoned with. This is how real leaders behave - people who feel and understand their responsibility for the country. I am proud to call Nikolai Viktorovich my associate and friend.

Lukashenko is a very vindictive person, he experiences his failures very painfully. We should realize that the life of Nikolai Statkevich is now under threat. Our task is to secure his release as soon as possible.

- What does 2020 mean to you?

- It is the peak of our struggle, I am sure that it will not be the last. August-September 2020 are some of the happiest moments of my life. I saw a free Belarus, I saw what it could be in the future. I saw millions of people on the streets, saw the powerful energy coming from them, self-organization, creativity, mutual assistance. It was incredible.

These memories cannot be erased. It gives a boost of optimism and faith. I can say: five years in prison were worth it. Because I saw Belarus free.

- Today you are in Vilnius. What are your plans?

- Now I am waiting for a residence permit. The most important thing for me is communication with my family, with my friends. That's what I missed most of all in prison. I want to make up for lost years, read, learn what has changed in the world. My goal is the same as before: a free Belarus.

- What would you like to say to Belarusians today?

- Remember what happened in 2020, believe in yourself, in our people. In 2019, on the eve of the "elections", someone said: "There will be no protests, nobody cares, nothing will change." Someone says so even now. But we all saw 2020, felt the taste of freedom at last. The processes that began then are irreversible.

Belarus is part of Europe. We have allies, we have heroes - everyone who came out in 2020, everyone who is now in prison, everyone who is defending Belarus, all of Europe in Ukraine, everyone who is helping us. There are many of us, we have become stronger and smarter.

The main thing is to remember: change is real. What seems impossible to some today becomes a reality tomorrow. How soon our tomorrow comes depends only on us.