Pavel Yakubovich (russian: link=no, Павел Изотович Якубович, born September 23, 1946, in

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

Starodub Starodub ( rus, links=no, Староду́б, p=stərɐˈdup, ''old oak'') is a town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets River (the Dnieper basin), southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

) is a Belarusian journalist and politician. As the chief editor of '' Belarus Today'', 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 (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука� ...

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 The Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MVD) (russian: Внутренние войска Министерства внутренних дел, Vnutrenniye Voiska Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del; abbreviat ...

. He soon began his work as a military journalist and joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. In 1973, Yakubovich graduated from the

Belarusian State University Belarusian State University (BSU) ( be, links=no, Белару́скі дзяржа́ўны ўніверсітэ́т, ; russian: links=no, Белору́сский госуда́рственный университе́т) is a university in Mins ...

. He worked as journalist and editor in several Belarusian newspapers: Znamya Yunosti (1977–1987), Krynitsa (1987–1995). In 1995 he was appointed deputy chief editor and then chief editor of

Sovetskaya Belorussiya __NOTOC__ ''Belarus Today'' (russian: Беларусь Сегодня, italic=yes) is a state run publisher in Belarus; it controls numerous media entities such as their current namesake publication ''Belarus Today''. See also * Mass media in B ...

, the official publication of the

Presidential Administration of Belarus The Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus (russian: Администрация Президента Республики Беларусь, be, Адміністрацыя Прэзідэнта Рэспублікі Белар ...

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

Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya __NOTOC__ ''Belarus Today'' (russian: Беларусь Сегодня, italic=yes) is a state run publisher in Belarus; it controls numerous media entities such as their current namesake publication ''Belarus Today''. See also * Mass media in Be ...

, 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 ( be, О́рдэн Францы́ска Скары́ны) 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 awar ...

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 Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Aly ...

. 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 People's Artist of Russia, 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