EU and IOC concerned about court's refusal to cancel real term for Vitishko

The refusal of the Krasnodar Territorial Court to satisfy the complaint lodged by Evgeny Vitishko, an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", who asked to cancel the replacement of his conditional imprisonment with a real deprivation of freedom in the case of the so-called "Governor Tkachov's summer cottage", has caused concern of the European Union (EU) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said the spokespersons thereof.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the ecologists Evgeny Vitishko and Suren Gazaryan were accused of damaging the fence around the site, which is considered by ecological activists to be the summer cottage of the Krasnodar Governor Alexander Tkachov. Both were sentenced to three years of conditional imprisonment each, but later in relation to Vitishko it was replaced with the real term. On February 12, the Territorial Court upheld the replacement, according to which Vitishko must go to a colony-settlement.

According to Mark Adams, the press secretary of the IOC, a letter asking to clarify the sentence of Evgeny Vitishko to the organizers of the Winter Olympics in Sochi was sent by the IOC. According to his story, earlier, the issue of Vitishko's trial had been raised, but now the IOC demands further clarification, the PRIME writes. The EU is also concerned about the situation with Vitishko.

Evgeny Vitishko used to criticize the organization of the Olympic Games in Sochi, and, according to the Human Rights Watch, it could cause his prosecution.