MOSCOW, February 13 (RIA Novosti) – The International Olympic Committee on Thursday asked organizers of the Sochi Winter Olympics to provide more details about the jailing of an environmental activist.
A court on Wednesday upheld a ruling that Yevgeny Vitishko, an environmental activist who criticized Sochi Olympic construction, had violated the terms of his suspended sentence and should serve a three-year term in a mild security prison.
"Given the latest developments yesterday we have asked Sochi for further clarification," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "I understand, and I will wait for the clarification, that Vitishko broke his parole on a matter not related to the Olympic Games."
Vitishko was initially convicted of vandalism in June 2012 for spray-painting the fence of what he said was a local governor's property in a national forest where construction is forbidden. He has repeatedly said that the case against him is politically motivated.
