Colleagues, we're back in committee. I just wanted to introduce to you our next witness. His name is Andrei Sannikov. He's a Belarusian politician and activist. Mr. Sannikov was the deputy foreign minister of Belarus between 1995 and 1996, a position from which he resigned in protest. He is a co-founder of the civil action group, Charter 97, and was a candidate in the Belarus 2010 presidential election. In 2011, Mr. Sannikov was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on charges of organizing mass disturbances and he was released and pardoned in 2012.
I thought for the record it would be important for us to know who Mr. Sannikov is. I want to welcome him to the committee and turn the floor over to Mr. Sannikov for his presentation. Then we'll get right into questions if that's convenient and good for everyone.
Mr. Sannikov.