Eugene Afnagel Revealed The Contents Of A Secret Document

• 19.10.2025, 22:15

This is what the Lukashenko regime is truly afraid of.

Former political prisoner, coordinator of the civic company "European Belarus" Evgeny Afnagel on the air of "Euroradio" revealed the details of the 2020 revolution and told why the trial against him and his colleagues was closed. The website Charter97.org provides a transcript of the conversation:

- Eugene, I'd like to go back to the story a little bit. I read your interview and paid attention to the words that it is funny for you to read the statements of experts, political scientists, politicians, even journalists, who at the beginning of 2020 could not foresee how these elections would end, that they would end with such an upsurge, such a popular protest, such a revolution, not a revolution, this word is inappropriate here, but exactly such a protest.

- Remember 2017, the actions against the decree on "deadbeats". Even then it was clear that the protesters were not only those who came out on the Day of Will or on the "Charnobylskiy Shlyakh", but quite different people - factory workers, students, ordinary people, far from politics. Then a new force - bloggers, who allowed residents of different cities of Belarus to see that in fact everyone has the same problems. And there are a lot of us who want to change.

Then there was the celebration of the centenary of the Belarusian People's Republic, several actions in the center of Minsk, then there was the parliamentary campaign, which we, "European Belarus", used to get feedback from ordinary people - not those who take to the streets on traditional dates, but those who know nothing about the opposition, but are dissatisfied with the authorities. We saw that there were a lot of such people.

At the same time, social networks were developing, independent bloggers continued to work, and there were quite a few of them. At the beginning of 2020, it was already clear that there would be an explosion, there would be a revolution. Even if it is not completely finished, but it was a revolution, it continues.

- You remember how you led the columns from Malinovka to the center. Nevertheless, don't you think that the chosen tactic of peaceful resistance was a strategy of defeat from the beginning?"

- Don't confuse peaceful resistance with indecision. Peaceful resistance is also a strike. Peaceful resistance is also occupying buildings. Remember in 2001, when Zubr still existed, we occupied a building in the center of Minsk? At that time there were probably about 10,000 people on Oktyabrskaya Square, not many compared to 2020, but we occupied the building. It was an action of non-violent resistance.

In 2020, unfortunately, a lot of things didn't work out. The strike didn't work out. We had a document prepared by the Investigative Committee with reference to the Ministry of Taxes and Levies in the case file at the trial. It contained data on the losses of enterprises immediately after election day - August 10, 11, 12, when the strike started at many of them. They tried to accuse us of preparation, that's why this document was in the case. It listed more than 100 enterprises: MZKT, MAZ, MTZ, BelAZ, BMZ and others. There were two columns of figures: the amount of losses the enterprise had incurred these days, and the amount not received by the state budget. I realize that these figures may have been inflated, but they were very large figures. Then we reasoned and analyzed in the courtroom and realized that if the strike had lasted a month, the situation in the country would have been different. The state machine would not have been able to stand, because the losses would have been too great.

One of the most important methods of non-violent resistance - strike, refusal to cooperate with the regime - was not used. We would go out to protest on Sunday, and then work for the regime for a whole week - going to work, paying taxes. Many people still came out to rallies in their yards, gathered on Independence Square, in front of television. People wanted changes, were ready to sacrifice something for them. But, unfortunately, there was no corresponding call. On the contrary, when we were negotiating about the strike with both the headquarters of Viktor Babariko and the headquarters of Svetlana Tikhanovska before the election day, they did not listen to us and said: "No, don't. We will act by legal methods, we don't need to go to the streets, we don't need any strikes. We will wait for the elections, and then we will sue and so on." Although, when we met with Sergei Tikhanovsky before his arrest, he was an advocate of decisive non-violent action.