Protester detained for picketing against prison sentence for environmental activist

Published January 08, 2015

An activist has been detained in Sochi for protesting a recent prison sentence for a local environmentalist.

David Khakim was holding a one-man picket outside the city administration in central Sochi on Monday when two police officers took him away. Khakim later posted pictures of his arrest on Twitter.

Russia passed an ad-hoc law last year, banning public gatherings and rallies in Sochi during the Olympics. One-man pickets, however, are not covered by this law.

Khakim was protesting the three-year prison sentence given last week to environmental activist Evgeny Vitishko for spray-painting a fence on a property in a forest where construction is banned.

The International Olympic Committee has said it has been assured that the ruling was not related to Vitishko's criticism of the games' environmental record.

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