ROME, February 17 (RIA Novosti) - Prosecutors in Turin have launched a criminal case into the positive doping tests results taken from disqualified Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva, an Olympics official said.
Mario Pescante, a member of the Olympics organizing committee and the president of the European Association of Olympic Committees, said the findings would be made public in six to eight months.
Under a law enacted in 2000, the use of banned substances in Italy is a criminal offense, which could entail a prison sentence of up to two years. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) proposed suspending this law for the duration of the Olympics, but the Italian authorities rejected the idea.
Pescante said one of the difficulties in the case was that under Italian legislation an alleged crime should be prosecuted where it was purported to have been committed rather than where it was detected. He said the final decision would depend on the judge in the case.
The official added that if the judge decided that the crime had been committed in Russia than he would rule that the case was beyond his jurisdiction.
The IOC Disciplinary Commission decided Thursday to strip Pyleva of the silver medal she won four days ago.
