Russian Politician Slams German President Over Decision To Boycott Sochi

Via the Guardian:

The German president has become the first major political figure to boycott the Sochi Winter Olympics in February. According to German weekly Der Spiegel, Joachim Gauck last week told the Kremlin of his decision, which is understood to be a response to the Russian government’s violations of human rights and harassment of the opposition. The head of the Russian parliament’s foreign delegation on Sunday criticised Gauck’s decision. Alexey Pushkov tweeted: “The German president Gauck has not criticised the killing of children and women in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But he is so critical of Russia that he doesn’t even want to travel to Sochi.”