Russian Sochi Games critic sentenced to three years in prison colony

An outspoken critic of the Winter Olympic Games in Russia has been sentenced to three years in a prison colony.

The move has sparked outrage from human rights activists after an appeals court in the city of Krasnodar handed down the sentence to Yevgeny Vitishko, upholding a ruling from a lower court in December.

According to the Verge, Vitishko has been ordered to serve time in a penal colony for violating the terms of a suspended sentence handed down in 2012.

Vitishko had co-authored a report on the environmental damage caused by preparations for the Winter Olympics.

He and his colleagues from the Environmental Watch of the North Caucasus were planning to present their report at a news conference in Sochi before the opening ceremony.

Those plans failed after Vitishko was arrested just days before the games began on charges of swearing in public.

He was sentenced to 15 days in jail, marking the latest development in what activists say is an ongoing and unjustified crackdown against political dissidents, the report added.