Verdict due in Crimean journalist's "separatism trial:
By the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
Russia-installed judges at a court in Ukraine's occupied Crimea Peninsula are due to issue a verdict in a trial against Mykola Semena, an RFE/RL contributor who is facing what he says is a politically motivated separatism charge.
Prosecutors at the trial in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, are seeking a three-year suspended sentence for the 66-year-old Semena, meaning he would be imprisoned if he violates terms of a ruling against him.
The charge stems from an article he wrote for RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) website in 2015.
Semena contends that the accusation is baseless and politically motivated and that Russian authorities have based the case on an inaccurate Russian translation of his original Ukrainian text.
Activists say Semena's trial is part of a systemic Russian clampdown on independent media and dissent in Crimea since Moscow's armed occupation and takeover of the peninsula in 2014.