Andrey Sannikov Political and public figure, presidential candidate of the Republic of Belarus Date of Birth: 08.03.1954 Country: Belarus

Biography of Andrey Sannikov

Andrey Sannikov is a Belarusian politician and public figure. He was born in Minsk to parents Oleg Sannikov and Alla Sannikova. His grandfather, Konstantin Sannikov, was a Belarusian director, People's Artist of the BSSR, and one of the founders of the National Kupala Theatre. Sannikov graduated from the 42nd Minsk school in 1971 and the Translation Faculty of the Minsk State Institute of Foreign Languages in 1977.

After completing his studies, Sannikov worked at the Minsk Electrotechnical Plant named after V.I. Kozlov before working in Pakistan and Egypt for an oil company and in the construction of an aluminum plant. He also worked at the Society for Friendship with Foreign Countries from 1980 to 1981. In 1989, Sannikov graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR in Moscow.

In addition to his native Belarusian language, Sannikov is fluent in Russian, English, and French. From 1982 to 1987, he worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York. From 1992 to 1995, he led the Belarusian delegation in negotiations on conventional and nuclear disarmament with the right to sign on behalf of the country.

From 1993 to 1995, Andrey Sannikov served as an advisor to the representation of the Republic of Belarus in Switzerland. From 1995 to 1996, he was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus. He holds the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. In November 1996, on the eve of the Second Independent Referendum, Sannikov resigned in protest.

In November 1997, Andrey Sannikov became one of the initiators of "Charter 97". Over 100,000 Belarusians signed the document. Sannikov was one of the organizers of protest marches such as "Crush the Fascist Filth!", "We Can't Live Like This!" and "For a Better Life", as well as actions against election fraud in 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2008.

In 2008, Andrey Sannikov, together with Viktor Ivashkevich, Mikhail Marinich, and other politicians, initiated the civil campaign "European Belarus", which aims to integrate Belarus into the European Union. In the spring of 2010, Sannikov announced his intention to participate in the upcoming presidential elections.

On September 24, 2010, Sannikov submitted an application to the Central Commission of the Republic of Belarus for Elections and Holding Republican Referendums to register an initiative group for his nomination as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Belarus. 2,003 people joined Sannikov's initiative group.

On November 18, 2010, Andrey Sannikov was registered as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Belarus at a meeting of the Central Election Commission. He was detained together with his wife, Irina Khalip, on the night of December 19-20, 2010, after the authorities dispersed a protest rally against the falsification of the presidential election results. He faces up to 15 years in prison for organizing mass unrest. On January 11, 2011, Amnesty International recognized Sannikov as a prisoner of conscience.

On May 14, 2011, the Partizansky District Court of Minsk found Andrey Sannikov guilty of organizing riots and sentenced him to 5 years in a high-security colony. His associates, Vladimir Yaromenok, Ilya Vasilyevich, and Fyodor Mirzayanov, were also sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. From 1998 to 2002, Sannikov served as the rector of the People's University, an informal educational and enlightenment project.

In 2005, Sannikov was awarded the Bruno Kreisky Prize for his work in the field of human rights protection. He is married and has two sons. His wife, Irina Khalip, is a well-known Belarusian journalist and the daughter of theater historian, playwright, and screenwriter Vladimir Khalip.