Azarau was born in Minsk in 1976 or 1977 (age 47–48).[1] He was brought up in Frunzyenski District in Minsk. His father, a construction worker, died from electrocution when Azarau was 11 and his mother was an engineer. Azarau expected to become a banker.[1]
Azarau worked at GUBOPiK, a Belarusian security service, from 2008 to around 2018, as a specialist in investigating human trafficking. Azarau claims that from 2015, he "openly defended Ukrainians" within his service, leading to internal conflict.[1] He reached the status of lieutenant-colonel as head of a GUBOPiK unit.[2]
Azarau resigned from official police duties and joined BYPOL (Association of Security Forces of Belarus), an organisation of Belarusian former security officers who oppose the Alexander Lukashenko presidency of Belarus.[1] Azarau was the head of BYPOL Foundation when it was created in May 2021.[6]
In August 2023, the Belarusian Coordination Council exercised the principle of separation of powers by withdrawing confidence in Azarau as Representative for Law and Order. Tsikhanouskaya implemented the Council's decision by dismissing Azarau from the Cabinet.[7]Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, announced the dismissal on 6 August 2023. Azarau retained a role of work with the Cabinet in implementing the "Victory" plan.[8]
In May 2021, Azarau estimated that many members of the official Belarusian security forces did not wish to support activities of repression, but worried about being unemployable if they resigned. He predicted that at a "critical moment", only a small number of security forces would defend Lukashenko, and employees who "doubt [and] silently go to work" would support the anti-Lukashenko opposition.[9]
Criticisms
Belarusian politician and activist Andrei Sannikov stated that because of Azarau's past role in GUBOPiK, Sannikov didn't see how Azarau could be trusted.[10]
On 16 June 2023, Natallia Radzina (Russian: Наталья Радина) alleged in NV.ua that there were suspicions of Azarau working for Belarusian secret services. Radzina stated that after hundreds or thousands of Belarusians registered for the "Peramoga" plan of preparing resistance to the Lukashenko government, many were arrested. She stated that GUBOPiK, Azarau's former employer, had frequently broadcast videos of people who stated that they had been arrested for participation in Peramoga.[11] In July 2023, the group Joint Resistance Staff accused Azarau of working for the Belarusian intelligence directorate (GRU).[12]
Personal life
As of 2022[update], Azarau lives in Warsaw with his wife and two daughters who attend school there.[1][2]
Harassment
Belarusian authorities seized Azarau's Belarusian bank accounts in 2021.[2] Security forces searched Azarau's mother's home, confiscated her electronic devices, and visited people who had telephoned her. Azarau interpreted the events as harassment, that effectively frightened friends and family from contacting his mother.[2]
Azarau believes that Belarusian spies were sent to Poland to spy on Azarau and "eliminate" BYPOL leadership.[2]
On 15 February 2024, Azarau was sentenced to 25 years in prison in absentia. Five other BYPOL founders received lengthy prison terms on the same day.[13] Later that year, he was sentenced again, for the Machulishchy air base attack.[14]
^"Belarusian opposition shaken by infiltration accusations". Intelligence Online. 2023-07-06. Fresh information obtained by the OSH, which has been shared with Intelligence Online, reveals that between 2018 and 2019, a former police officer was secretly seconded by the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Defense for training. The secondment was part of an 'unprecedented hybridization operation between the GRU and the GUBOPiK' that began in 2013, according to an OSF spokesperson. The purpose of the operation was to train an asset for undercover work in the Belarusian dissident community
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