The name of Andrei Olegovich Sannikov became known to the general public in 2010, when he ran for the post of head of Belarus. In 201-m1, the politician was accused of organizing riots, recognized as a traitor to the motherland and sentenced to five years in prison. What preceded this and how the fate of the ex-presidential candidate in the future developed, we will tell in the article.
Biography
Andrei Sannikov was born on 03/08/1954 in the Belarusian capital. His grandfather was a well-known artist, director and founder of the Academic Theater. I. Kupala. As a child, Andrei went to his grandfather’s performances to listen to the Belarusian speech, as everyone in the family spoke Russian.
In 1971, Sannikov graduated from one of the Minsk schools with a gold medal. Then he entered the Institute of Foreign Languages at the Faculty of Translation. In 1977, after receiving a diploma, he worked for some time at the Minsk Electrotechnical Plant.
Work abroad
In the 1980s Andrei Sannikov lived in Egypt, where he built an aluminum plant, and in Pakistan, where he was an employee of an oil company. Then he worked in the Belarusian Society for Cultural Relations and Friendship with Foreign States. In parallel with this, he studied at the courses of translators at the UN.
In 1982-1987 Andrei Olegovich was in New York, where he was the Soviet representative in the UN secretariat and led the Russian Book Club.
In 1987, Sannikov came to Moscow to study at the diplomatic academy of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1989, he graduated with honors.
Political career
After graduating from the academy, Andrei Sannikov was offered a job in the Soviet Foreign Ministry, but he decided to return to the Byelorussian SSR. In 1993-1995 He held the position of adviser to the Swiss representation of the Republic and at the same time was the head of the Belarusian delegation at the negotiations on nuclear disarmament. Then the politician had the right to sign documents on behalf of the country.
In 1995, Andrei Sannikov was appointed deputy foreign minister of Belarus. In 1996, disagreeing with the draft constitution proposed by A. Lukashenko, which significantly expanded the powers of the country's president, he resigned and joined the organizing committee of the Charter 97 civic initiative. The objectives of this organization were to unite the Belarusian democratic forces and intensify public actions to protect the rights of citizens of Belarus. The members of the Charter organized rallies, pickets and other actions, and Andrei Sannikov coordinated the international programs of the organizing committee.
Social work
In 1998-2002 The politician worked as the rector of the People’s University. In the same period, together with G. Karpenko, he created the Coordination Council of Democratic Forces, which aims at uniting the opposition.
In the 2000s Andrei Sannikov was among the organizers of the protest marches “You can’t live like that!”, “Crush the fascist reptile!”, “For a better life” and actions against election fraud.
In 2008, a public figure initiated the civil campaign “European Belarus”, the purpose of which was the country's accession to the EU. Along with him, the campaigners were Nikolai Statkevich, Viktor Ivashkevich, Mikhail Marynich and several other Belarusian politicians.
Presidential candidate
In the spring of 2010, Andrei Sannikov announced his intention to run for the post of head of the Republic of Belarus. In the fall, the Central Election Commission registered him as a candidate. In preparation for the vote, Andrei Olegovich teamed up with another opposition figure V. Neklyaev. Together, they demanded that the elections be declared unlawful based on the results of the preliminary vote, citing the fact that the candidates were practically removed from the media.
According to the official election results, Sannikov took second place with 2.6 percent of the vote, while 79.9 percent of voters voted for A. Lukashenko.
12/19/2010 after the announcement of the results, a protest rally was held in Minsk, bringing together several thousand people. During it, Andrei Olegovich was detained. His wife, journalist Irina Khalip, was also arrested.
Sentence
The politician was charged with organizing riots and in May 2011 was sentenced to five years in prison. Irina Khalip was sentenced to two years in prison with a two-year delay.
Such actions of Belarusian justice workers were negatively perceived by the European Parliament, and the Council of Ministers of the EU banned the entry of EU judges, prosecutors and police officers who were related to the sentences. In addition, Sannikov’s arrest caused a wave of public protests in Belarus and abroad. Many famous musicians appealed to the authorities with a request to release the detainees.
Emigration
In April 2012, Lukashenko signed a decree to pardon Andrei Sannikov, and on the same day he was released from prison. A few months later, the politician went to the UK, where his sister lived. There, Andrei Olegovich was granted political asylum.
The family of the ex-presidential candidate - wife Irina Khalip and five-year-old son Danil - remained in Belarus. The failed first lady subsequently overturned the sentence. For some time she and her son were in Moscow, and then returned to Minsk.
Andrei Sannikov changed his residence permit and in recent years lives in Poland, where he is engaged in literary activities: he writes and publishes books about his conclusion, the presidential campaign in 2010 and the essence of the Lukashenko regime.