Environmental Activist Jailed for Public Swearing (criticism of Sochi environmental damage)
An activist who has protested the environmental damage wreaked by preparations for the Sochi Winter Olympics has been found guilty of swearing in public and sentenced to 15 days in prison, a news report said.
The case reportedly lasted no longer than four minutes before the judge handed down a sentence to Yevgeny Vitishko on Monday, The Associated Press reported, citing another activist who attended the trial, Valery Khachaturyan.
The judge refused to summon a key witness whose claim that Vitishko had been swearing at a bus stop had led to the activist's arrest, the report said.
Vitishko had earlier received a three-year, suspended prison sentence for "deliberate destruction of property" for spray-painting the word "thief" on the fence around the residence of Krasnodar region Governor Alexander Tkachyov. In his defense Vitishko said that the property was built in a national forest where construction is forbidden.
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http://www.themoscowtimes.com/sochi2014/Environmental-Activist-Jailed-for-Public-Swearing-Ahead-of-Sochi-Games.html