Some RFE/RL reaction to the Semena verdict:
RFE/RL President Condemns Sentence Of Crimean Journalist
RFE/RL President Thomas Kent has condemned the sentence of Crimean journalist Mykola Semena, describing it as "part of an orchestrated effort by Russian authorities in Crimea to silence independent voices." On September 22, a court in Ukraine's occupied Crimean Peninsula found RFE/RL contributor Semena guilty on a separatism charge. The court handed him a 2 1/2 year suspended sentence, meaning Semena would not be imprisoned unless he violates the terms of the verdict. The separatism charge stems from an article Semena wrote for RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) website in 2015. The Kremlin-installed prosecutor in Crimea charged that the article had called for the violation of Russia’s territorial integrity.
Here's more from RFE/RL's news desk on the Semena verdict:
Crimean Journalist Semena Handed Suspended Sentence In 'Separatism' Case
A court in Russia-occupied Crimea on September 22 found RFE/RL contributor Mykola Semena guilty on a charge of separatism and handed him a 2 1/2 year suspended sentence in a case criticized by the West as politically motivated.
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service said the 66-year-old Semena was also barred from "public activities" -- apparently including journalism -- for three years.
RFE/RL President Thomas Kent condemned the verdict and sentence, describing them as "part of an orchestrated effort by Russian authorities in Crimea to silence independent voices."
Semena's lawyer Aleksandr Popkov said he would appeal the ruling.
The separatism charge stems from an article Semena wrote for RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) website in 2015.
The Kremlin-installed prosecutor in Crimea charged that the article had called for the violation of Russia’s territorial integrity.
Semena has said the accusation was politically motivated and that Russian authorities based their case on an inaccurate translation of his article from Ukrainian into Russian.
The United States, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and international media watchdogs have all expressed concern about the case.
“The case of Semena reminds us all of the arbitrary practice of silencing critical voices in Crimea,” the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said in a statement earlier this year.
Human rights advocates say Russia and the authorities Moscow has installed in Crimea have conducted a persistent campaign of oppression that targets opponents of Crimea's annexation, including many among the region's indigenous Crimean Tatars, independent media outlets, and journalists.
In May 2014, filmmaker and activist Oleh Sentsov was arrested by Russian security services and later sentenced to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges.
Sentsov is a native of Crimea who opposed Russia's seizure and annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.