Sochi Activists http://wintergames.ap.org/gazettextra/article/sochi-activists-detained-ahead-closing-ceremony

Sochi activists detained ahead of closing ceremony

Feb. 23 2014 8:23 AM EST

You are here

•  
  
  

  Activist David Khakim, right, is approached by two police officers after pulling out a banner protesting a recent prison sentence for a local environmentalist in front of the Olympic rings, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, in central Sochi, Russia. Khakim was holding a one-man picket outside the city administration in central Sochi on Monday when two police officers took him away. 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. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
• 
  

  Activist David Khakim, left, talks to a police officer after pulling out a banner protesting a recent prison sentence for a local environmentalist in front of the Olympic rings, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, in central Sochi, Russia. Khakim was holding a one-man picket outside the city administration in central Sochi on Monday when two police officers took him away. 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. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

• Prev
 
• 2
 
• Next

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Two Russian activists have been detained in Sochi several hours ahead of the Winter Olympics closing ceremony.

Their lawyer Alexander Popkov told The Associated Press on Sunday that environmentalist Olga Noskovets and civil rights activist David Khakim were picked up by the police in the Sochi district of Matsesta and taken away.

Popkov says he is trying to establish their whereabouts.

Rights groups have blamed local authorities for what they describe as a campaign of harassment and intimidation against activists and independent journalists in Sochi who have been critical of the preparation for the Winter Games.

Noskovets has been a prominent voice in exposing illegal waste dumps in Sochi. Khakim was recently detained and sentenced to 30 hours of community service for staging a one-man picket in Sochi.