Career

Chigir was appointed Prime Minister the day following the inauguration of Alexander Lukashenko

Alexander Lukashenko

Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been serving as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm. Under Lukashenko's rule, Belarus has come to be viewed as a state whose conduct is out of line...

 as President. Prior to this, he served as head of Belagroprombank, a bank specializing in agricultural pursuits.

Resignation

In 1996, Chigir resigned as Prime Minister in protest of Lukashenko's efforts to gain unlimited authority over the country. The following year he became a signatory of Charter 97

Charter 97

Charter 97 is a declaration calling for democracy in Belarus and a human rights group taking its inspiration from the declaration.The document - whose title deliberately echoes the Czechoslovak human rights declaration Charter 77 twenty years earlier - was created on the anniversary of a referendum...

. In 1999, he announced he would run for President of Belarus in order to unseat Lukashenko.

Arrest

On March 30, 1999, Chigir was arrested by the Belarusian government. It was alleged that he embezzled large sums of money involving loans while in charge of Belagroprombank. Chigir argued that the loans were not due to be repaid until after he was no longer with the bank, thus the money did not involve him. Prior to Chigir's arrest, several other officials who had been attempting to organize a campaign against Lukashenko were continuously repressed by the government, including Viktar Hanchar

Viktar Hanchar

Viktar Hanchar was a Belarusian politician who disappeared and was presumably killed in 1999.Hanchar graduated from the Belarusian State University Law faculty in 1979 and worked as law research worker at different major Belarusian institutions....

, who was arrested and later disappeared and eventually presumed murdered, allegedly under the order of someone close to the President. Chigir's arrest received negative reactions from governments around the world and his release was demanded by the US State Department

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

, the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...

. Additionally, Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

 demanded his release and deemed him a prisoner of conscience

Prisoner of conscience

Prisoner of conscience is a term defined in Peter Benenson's 1961 article "The Forgotten Prisoners" often used by the human rights group Amnesty International. It can refer to anyone imprisoned because of their race, religion, or political views...

. The International League for Human Rights

International League for Human Rights

The International League for Human Rights is a human rights organization with headquarters in New York City.Claiming to be the oldest human rights organization in the United States, the ILHR defines its mission as "defending human rights advocates who risk their lives to promote the ideals of a...

 also protested his arrest. Chigir ultimately avoided jail time, receiving a three-year suspended sentence with a two-year probationary period. Following the trial, he stated his intention to run for election to the House of Representatives of Belarus.