Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, December 20, 2013

Russian activist Yevgeny Vitishko jailed for protesting Olympic construction

A prominent Russian activist who has reported on the environmental fallout from construction for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Yevgeny Vitishko and another activist were declared guilty of "deliberate destruction of property" and handed a three-year suspended prison sentence in 2012.

The other activist, Suren Gazaryan, fled Russia.

The group Vitishko works for, the Environmental Watch on the North Caucasus, said a Russian court on Friday upheld prosecutors' demand to turn his suspended sentence into a prison term. He has 10 days to appeal.

The Associated Press reported this week about activists and journalists being harassed in Sochi for their critical coverage of the preparations for the Games. They have been detained, slapped with bogus charges and face heavy police scrutiny.

Original Article
Source: olympics.cbc.ca/
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