Russian Olympic silver medallist faces jail term

Moscow: Russian Olympic pole vault silver medallist Yevgeny Lukyanenko faces jail term due to vehicular manslaughter charges, local police said.

Lukyanenko, the silver winner of 2008 Beijing Olympics pole vault, lost control of his car in 2009 with a female passenger dying in the ensuing crash. A District Court in charge of the case ‘will determine the degree of Lukyanenko`s guilt’, local media cited a police spokesperson as saying on Wednesday. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Friday, the police said, adding it was unclear whether the young athlete considered himself guilty. The case was returned to state prosecutors to correct technical errors in their indictment in 2011 and was finally assigned to course in 2013. If proved guilty, Lukyanenko could face up to seven years in the prison. IANS