Olympic Notes: Russian Police Detain Norwegian Journalists In Sochi

Russian police detained, harassed, and "threatened to imprison" two journalists from a Norwegian TV station who were "on a reporting trip to Sochi." Over the course of three days, Oystein Bogen and Aage Aunes, reporter and cameraman, respectively, of Norway's TV2, "were stopped by police six times." They were "arrested on three occasions" (London GUARDIAN, 11/5). ... Russia's "embrace of the Sochi Paralympic Games and its increasing concern about the hardships of its disabled population could spark further improvement in the condition of the country's handicapped individuals." Denise Roza, director of Perspektiva, an NGO that strives to improve the well-being of disabled people in Russia, said, "There has been lots of change for people living with disabilities in the past 10 years, and even more in the last three. The Russian government has been much more serious about it, and I think the Sochi Paralympics will help raise public awareness and contribute to maintaining positive change" (MOSCOW TIMES, 11/4).