The Broadcast Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees all U.S. civilian international broadcasting, condemned what it called the targeting of independent journalists in Russia-annexed Crimea.
"The charges being considered against Semena are baseless and are aimed only at silencing independent voices and dissent," BBG CEO and Director John Lansing said. "Threats to the free practice of journalism must neither be made nor tolerated by any government."
"Journalism is not a crime," BBG Chairman Jeff Shell said. "Reporters from RFE/RL and indeed all media outlets must be allowed to do their work in Crimea without fear of intimidation or arrest."
This ends our live blogging for April 20. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with a few of the tweets that caught our eye overnight:
Here's a fresh item from our news desk:
Ukraine Bans Russian Movies As Threat To National Security
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed legislation banning all Russian films made after January 1, 2014.
Legislation signed by President Petro Poroshenko on April 20 also bans movies produced by Russia after 1991 if they "glorify the work of government bodies" of Russia.
"The legislation will help raise the level of protection of Ukraine's national security, reduce separatist sentiments in society, and strengthen the government's authority," a parliamentary description of the bill was quoted as saying.
Russian films and television series have long dominated the Ukrainian market where an overwhelming majority of the population is bilingual. Ukrainian and Russian TV channels have also been engaged in a partnership to coproduce movies and series.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia soured after street protests in Kyiv toppled President Viktor Yanukovych, a Kremlin ally, in February 2014. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and threw its support behind separatists in the country’s east.