A high-profile opposition leader in Belarus, Andrei Sannikov has been jailed for five years on charges of organising mass protests after last year's presidential poll.Andrei Sannikov, a former deputy foreign minister and co-founder of the Charter 97 group, had pleaded innocent. Sannikov, 57, was one of seven presidential candidates detained at a rally in December after Alexander Lukashenko won a fourth term.The EU and US condemned the crackdown and imposed sanctions on Lukashenko. He has been president of the former Soviet republic since 1994. Sannikov was accused of organising “mass disturbances” by calling on people to take part in a protest march on 19 December and then leading it.