10 persons detained in Sochi at attempt of anti-Olympiad picket

On May 14, the day of sitting of the IOC Commission in Sochi, militiamen detained and took away from Vinogradnaya to Gorki Street in militia vans the ten persons who tried to hold a protest picket against 2014 Sochi Olympiad.

"We didn't group by more than two," the detainees, both Sochi residents and Muscovites, for example, lawyer Alexander Glushenkov, among them, said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent in amazement. "We stood at a distance of more than 50 meters from each other, didn't say a word and had nothing in hands."

Radio Liberty reports that two activists of the oppositional movement "Solidarity" were among the detainees. Olga Shorina, press secretary of "Solidarity" told journalists that activists could not even unfold their posters. According to her story, militiamen also tried to detain some other members of "Solidarity" who did not participate in pickets, in particular, Alexander Glushenkov - advocate of Boris Nemtsov, co-chairman of the movement.

The failed picketers were kept in central ROVD from 4 to 10 p.m. and accused of breaching Article 20.2 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences "Violation of the established order of organization or holding an assembly, rally, demonstration, march or picketing."

Late in the evening on May 14, protocols were drawn up and sent to the court.

Despite all these events and the situation around the Olympiad as a whole, the Coordination Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made no remarks on the course of preparation of the city of Sochi to the Olympiad, as stated by Jean-Claude Killy, Chairman of the Commission.

"There're no drawbacks, but a huge scope of work is in front; this is a huge, colossal project, and nobody in charge should lose time," said Mr Killy at a press conference in Sochi.

The British Guardian has noted in this context that the IOC Commission headed by Killy in fact refused to pay attention to the most problematic points in organization of Sochi Games. Thus, as the newspaper remarks, Mr Killy very warmly welcomed the new Mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov, whose election procedure caused very many questions in the democratic community.

This time also, the IOC Commission failed to react to appeals of ecologists who protest against the broad-scale construction in Sochi.